A great question I like to ask patients is, “How old do you think you will live to”? The first thing I receive is usually a long pause, then comes the answer which is a number usually between 80 and 90 with this disclaimer “as long as I can do the things I want to do”. That is something we all strive for, aging gracefully with everything intact, our eyes, ears, mind and body.

Losing our eyesight is a scary thought and something we probably take for granted way too much. Many things involved in with our eyesight are beyond our control but we can eat and supplement our way to stack the deck in our favor. Lutein and zeaxanthine are examples.

The second thing on our list is hearing. If you have not protected your ears over the course of your lifetime, that can be a problem. We are fortunate to have talented audiologists in our community that would be happy to help you obtain a pair of hearing aids. Once you get them, use them. They do no good sitting in a drawer. If they don’t work, go back to the professional and ask them to work with you on how to get the most out of the hearing device.

Our minds come from our brains and as I have said in previous articles, we need to exercise them and supply them with nutrients and avoid things that can harm our brains and that is how we take care of our minds.

The focus on this article, however, is on our bodies and what can we do to keep them working so that we can do the things we want to do in older age.

This age-old bit of advice “use it or lose it”, holds true when preserving our bodies. The importance of staying in shape as we age to prevent falls and fractures associated with increased risk of early death.

Science now clearly suggests that without proper intervention, muscle loss becomes increasingly worse, with as much as half of muscle mass lost by the age of 70 in those who do not incorporate resistance training into their daily exercise program. Resistance or strength training is defined as: a system of physical conditioning in which muscles are exercised by being worked against an opposing force (as by lifting weights) to increase strength. This can be done with your own body weight, gravity, bands, weighted bars or dumbbells.

It has been reported in medical journals that up to 13 percent of people in their 60s and half of those in their 80s suffer muscle loss associated with falls and fractures, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating the public health care cost of falls and fractures in the older population to exceed $40 billion annually by 2020.

The good news is that no matter how old or out of shape we are, we can restore much of the strength we have already lost. Research documenting the ability to reverse the loss of muscle—even among nursing home residents in their 90s—has been in the medical literature for 30 years, and the time is long overdue to act on it.

Maintaining muscle mass also requires adequate nutrients, especially protein, the main constituent of healthy muscle tissue. Older adults need about one-half gram of protein in their daily diet for every pound they weigh. Protein acts synergistically with exercise to increase muscle mass. One-half gram per pound of weight is more protein than the majority of older adults consume these days.

Studies published in JAMA report, eight weeks of high-intensity resistance training significantly enhanced the physical abilities of nursing home residents age 90 and older. Strength gains in nine subjects over the age of 90 averaged 174 percent, with mid-thigh muscle mass increasing 9 percent, and walking speed improving 48 percent.

So, what are we all waiting for? If you’re sedentary or have a serious chronic illness, check first with your physician. But as soon as you get the go-ahead, start a strength-training program using free weights, resistance bands or machines, preferably after taking a few lessons from a physical therapist or certified trainer.

Here is the quiz to screen for loss of muscle mass:

This simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose muscle mass loss was printed in JAMA a few years ago:

Component question scoring

Strength

How much difficulty do you have in lifting and carrying 10 pounds?

None = 0

Some = 1

A lot or unable = 2

Walking

How much difficulty do you have walking across a room?

None = 0

Some = 1

A lot, use aids, or

unable = 2

Rising from a chair

How much difficulty do you have rising from a chair without

​using arm strength, or transferring from a chair to a bed?

None = 0

Some = 1

A lot or unable without

help = 2

Climbing stairs

How much difficulty do you have climbing a flight

of 10 stairs?

None = 0

Some = 1

A lot or unable = 2

Falls

How many times have you

fallen in the past year?

None = 0

1 to 3 falls = 1

4 or more falls = 2

The scores range from 0 to 10. Preliminary studies suggest that a score equal to or greater than 4 is predictive of serious loss of muscle mass and poor outcome. ​

Until next time, be vigilant about your health!!