Development of prevention and treatment of sarcopenia by simple strength training under limited blood flow

Abstract

Sarcopenia is the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass and is associated with the ageing process. The disease has a negative impact on balance, gait and the ability to perform daily tasks. It can therefore drastically impair quality of life and can also reduce life expectancy. Factors such as immobility, unbalanced diet, inflammation and severe stress can all accelerate muscle loss. In Japan, where like much of the developed world, the population is rapidly increasing, there is a pressing need to promote and achieve healthy life expectancy. Indeed, this is one of the top priorities in Japan. Dr Tomohiro Yasuda is one of the leading Japanese researchers working on developing prevention and treatment methods for sarcopenia, with a focus on simple and effective strength training. Yasuda is keen to develop and implement a method of simple strength training that can be implemented into people's lives - both the elderly and younger people - in a convenient way. Yasuda is based at Seirei Christopher University in Japan, where he is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing. His research is funded by the Japanese funding body KAKENHI. Yasuda began researching blood flow restricted (BFR) exercise training during his doctoral studies and now works as a university faculty member who bridges the fields of health sports and medicine. He recently performed an investigation into more than 200 female Japanese university students and confirmed that the prevalence of pre-sarcopenia - a stage characterised by low muscle mass without impact on muscle strength or physical performance - was more than 30 per cent for Japanese university freshmen women. 'This led me to consider: do Japanese women demonstrate a crisis situation in which sarcopenia creeps up from a young age, or is it necessary to review the diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia and pre-sarcopenia itself'' Yasuda explains. 'Therefore, I am particularly interested in clarifying what sarcopenia is and what kind of prevention or countermeasures are particularly important for the disease.