Ageing and human muscle: observations from Sweden

The purposes of this review are to summarize studies of cross-sections of autopsied whole muscles from previously physically healthy males and to focus on the cause of the ageing atrophy. The ageing atrophy begins around 25 years of age and thereafter accelerates. This is caused mainly by a loss of muscle fibres, and to a lesser extent by a reduction in fibre size, mostly of the proportion of the fibre area in the muscle cross-section occupied by type 2 (fast-twitch) fibres. In muscle from old subjects, there is a significant increase in the number of enclosed fibres, indicating an increased incidence of fibre type grouping, a loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, and a reduction in the number of functioning motor units. These findings strongly suggest a combination of a progressive denervation process and an altered physical activity level as the two major mechanisms underlying the effects of normal ageing on human muscle. These changes have obvious implications for old individuals and their participation in physical activity and in sports, which must be accommodated in rehabilitation regimes or in training programmes.