
For muscle strengthening activities, elderly persons could choose household chores or work which involve lifting loads.
What kind of Physical Activities Help Prevention of Muscle Loss. If elderly persons suffer from chronic diseases mentioned in paragraph 3 above, are underweight or losing weight with unknown reason, they should consult a doctor promptly. Muscle strengthening activities helps build up muscle bulk and strength whereas aerobic activities of moderate to vigorous intensity help slow down muscle loss, improve muscle endurance and cardiopulmonary function. It includes maintaining a balanced diet in order to ensure adequate protein intake, and regular engagement in both muscle strengthening activities as well as aerobic physical activities. Adopting a healthy lifestyle also helps improve one’s muscle strength and mobility. Strategies for Prevention of Muscle Loss. Apart from the impact of normal aging process, unhealthy lifestyle (such as inadequate physical activity, inadequate nutrient intake and smoking.) and diseases (such as metabolic diseases, such as type II diabetes, diseases which affect the absorption of digestive system or function of some major organs, such as chronic pulmonary obstructive disease cardiac diseases cancers depression and vitamin D deficiency) could also accelerate the progress of muscle loss. A local study in 2014 found that the prevalence of sarcopenia among community-dwelling people aged 65 and above was 9.0%.
In addition, researches showed that sarcopenia would increase the risk of fall, admission to residential care facilities, hospitalisation (including increase length of hospital stay) and mortality. Apart from apparent wasting of the calves and thigh muscles, such patients may also encounter difficulties in daily lives frequently such as slowness in walking, weakness in getting out of a chair, climbing stairs, lifting heavy objects, and doing household chores. If the muscle loss is so severe that subsequently impairs one’s muscle strength or mobility, it may result in “Sarcopenia”.Although a certain degree of muscle loss is inevitable with aging, the good news is that adopting a healthier lifestyle can help improve muscle strength and maintain mobility.Apart from the above study, other researchers show that muscle strength among male and female elderly persons aged over 70 was 45% and 37% respectively less than the younger adult groups. Regarding muscle strength, it drops even faster at about 14.5% and 11.8% per decade for male and female respectively as shown in another study of 120 male and female persons of middle to old age.Researches show that muscle mass among male and female adults drops about 4.7% and 3.7% per decade respectively. Peak skeletal muscle mass is generally attained in the 20s and 30s and then gradually declines.