Age-Related Changes in Muscle and Bone

Abstract

Together, skeletal muscles and bones provide postural stability, facilitate movement and play a role in regulating metabolism. The mechanostat hypothesis predicts how load-bearing bones adapt their shape and strength in response to mechanical loading from contracting muscles and, by contrast, deteriorate with disuse. In addition to anatomical connections, muscles and bones communicate via hormonal and biochemical messengers. Following peaks in muscle and bone mass and function in early adulthood, a complex interplay of various age-associated insults orchestrates a gradual and progressive deterioration in both tissues. For substantial numbers of people in later life, this leads to sarcopenia and osteoporosis, which profoundly threatens their physical ability and autonomy.