Physical activity in all of its forms may help maintain muscle mass in
midlife
Hormonal changes during menopause decrease muscle mass, but physical
activity might slow the decrement

Date:
June 8, 2020
Source:
University of Jyva"skyla" - Jyva"skyla"n yliopisto
Summary:
Loss of estrogen has an effect on muscles and leads to a decline
in muscle mass. Physical activity in all of its forms may help
maintain muscle mass in midlife.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A large study of middle-aged women shows that age-related changes
in skeletal muscle are part of everyday life for women in their
fifties. During this time, women transition from perimenopause to
postmenopause and the production of estrogen ceases. Loss of estrogen
has an effect on muscles and leads to a decline in muscle mass. Physical activity in all of its forms may help maintain muscle mass in midlife.


==========================================================================
"We already knew that estrogen has a role in the regulation of muscle properties," says doctoral student Hanna-Kaarina Juppi. "By following
the hormonal status, measuring many aspects of muscles and by taking
into consideration the simultaneous chronological aging of women going
through menopausal transition, we were able to show that the decrease of
muscle mass takes place already in early postmenopause." In the current
study, muscle size was measured in the perimenopausal state and right
after entering postmenopause, when menstruation had permanently stopped.

Women were on average 51-and-a-half years old at the beginning of the
study and 53 years old at the final measurements, so the average duration
of menopausal transition was one-and-a-half years. The time it takes a
woman to go through menopause is unique: in this study it varied from
less than six months to more than three years. During this time, the
decrease in muscle mass was on average one percent.

Juppi continues: "The observed change does not seem like much, but what
is meaningful is that the decline happens in a short period of time and
can have an impact on metabolism, as muscles are important regulators of whole-body metabolism." Physical activity was found to be positively associated with the maintenance of muscle mass during the menopausal transition. Women who were more active had higher muscle mass before
and after menopause compared to the less active women. It seems that
even though menopause alone decreases muscle mass, staying physically
active throughout middle age can help women to slow the change.

The current study was conducted in the Gerontology Research Center and
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, and is part of a larger study,
Estrogenic Regulation of Muscle Apoptosis (ERMA), led by Academy Research Fellow Eija Laakkonen. More than a thousand women between the ages of 47
and 55 from the Jyva"skyla" region participated in the ERMA study. At
the beginning of the study, 381 of them were perimenopausal, while 234
reached early postmenopause during the study. The research was funded
by the Academy of Finland and the European Commission.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Jyva"skyla"_-_Jyva"skyla"n_yliopisto. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Hanna-Kaarina Juppi, Sarianna Sipila", Neil J. Cronin, Sira
Karvinen,
Jari E. Karppinen, Tuija H. Tammelin, Pauliina Aukee, Vuokko
Kovanen, Urho M. Kujala, Eija K. Laakkonen. Role of Menopausal
Transition and Physical Activity in Loss of Lean and Muscle Mass:
A Follow-Up Study in Middle-Aged Finnish Women. Journal of Clinical
Medicine, 2020; 9 (5): 1588 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9051588 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200608104727.htm

--- up 19 weeks, 6 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)