Muscle Wasting With Age Reduces Mobility and Independent Living

As reported in the New York Times (Health Section, 8/31/10), doctors are seeking new ways to treat the loss of muscle due to aging. The loss of muscle mass and strength, a disease termed sarcopenia, affects about 10 percent of those over age 60, with higher rates as age advances. It is estimated that “disability caused by sarcopenia accounted for $18.5 billion in direct medical costs in 2000, equivalent to 1.5 percent of the nation’s health care spending that year". In addition to the loss of mass, the muscle deterioration is a major reason the elderly lose mobility, and are unable to live independently. The factors contributing to the muscle deterioration include hormonal changes, sedentary lifestyles, oxidative damage, and infiltration of fat into muscles. Experts say the best approach to restoring or maintaining muscle mass and strength is exercise. Interventions such as LIV Therapy that provide physiologically relevant mechanical signals to the musculoskeletal system could also play an important role in helping to maintain muscle mass, strength, balance, and postural stability. Clinical and preclinical data from Marodyne's LIV Tablet indicates an improvement in muscle mass, muscle strength, bone density and postural stability in several patient groups. Building upon these initial successes with the LIV technology in promoting musculoskeletal health, Marodyne is investing great effort in further studying and understanding the molecular basis of this muscle and bone response. Several double-blind, placebo controlled trials to investigate muscle responses in the elderly and children with disabling conditions are under way.