Dietary and exercise manipulation of skeletal muscle function in older humans

Although life expectancy is increasing, this often comes at the cost of declining health through an increased incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease and arthritis in older age. In addition, a decline in muscular performance is commonly observed with increasing age, combining a loss of skeletal muscle (‘sarcopenia’), a decrease in muscle oxidative capacity and a reduction in muscle strength. Research has shown that it is possible to arrest, or even reverse, the changes in muscle mass and oxidative capacity that occur with age. Two of the most successful strategies\ud identified to date in this regard are exercise, in particular resistance-based training, and protein supplementation. We devised a series of four related studies to investigate and refine strategies for the prevention or mitigation of sarcopenia among the elderly