Publications by authors named "Hannah Fruhmann"

Article Synopsis
  • Lifelong exercise helps older people keep their muscles strong and healthy by improving how their muscle fibers connect and grow.
  • In older athletes, muscles showed more slow-type fibers, which are important for endurance activities, compared to those who didn't exercise much.
  • Studies since 2013 have confirmed that staying active can prevent muscle loss and keep older adults independent for longer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, reducing force generation and mobility in the elderlies. Contributing factors include a severe decrease in both myofiber size and number as well as a decrease in the number of motor neurons innervating muscle fibers (mainly of fast type) which is sometimes accompanied by reinnervation of surviving slow type motor neurons (motor unit remodeling). Reduced mobility and functional limitations characterizing aging can promote a more sedentary lifestyle for older individuals, leading to a vicious circle further worsening muscle performance and the patients' quality of life, predisposing them to an increased risk of disability, and mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The loss in muscle mass coupled with a decrease in specific force and shift in fiber composition are hallmarks of aging. Training and regular exercise attenuate the signs of sarcopenia. However, pathologic conditions limit the ability to perform physical exercise.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The histologic features of aging muscle suggest that denervation contributes to atrophy, that immobility accelerates the process, and that routine exercise may protect against loss of motor units and muscle tissue. Here, we compared muscle biopsies from sedentary and physically active seniors and found that seniors with a long history of high-level recreational activity up to the time of muscle biopsy had 1) lower loss of muscle strength versus young men (32% loss in physically active vs 51% loss in sedentary seniors); 2) fewer small angulated (denervated) myofibers; 3) a higher percentage of fiber-type groups (reinnervated muscle fibers) that were almost exclusive of the slow type; and 4) sparse normal-size muscle fibers coexpressing fast and slow myosin heavy chains, which is not compatible with exercise-driven muscle-type transformation. The biopsies from the old physically active seniors varied from sparse fiber-type groupings to almost fully transformed muscle, suggesting that coexpressing fibers appear to fill gaps.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF