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May bed rest cause greater muscle loss than limb immobilization?
Author(s) -
Dirks M. L.,
Backx E. M. P.,
Wall B. T.,
Verdijk L. B.,
Loon L. J. C.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta physiologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.591
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1748-1716
pISSN - 1748-1708
DOI - 10.1111/apha.12699
Subject(s) - bed rest , rest (music) , muscle atrophy , medicine , muscle mass , skeletal muscle , lower limb , muscle strength , anatomy , surgery
Bed rest, as often occurs following surgery or during (critical) illness, may result in greater muscle loss than local muscle disuse; not only because of the amount of muscle tissue that is subjected to disuse, but also because of various systemic factors that may accelerate muscle atrophy. These factors could include hormonal changes or (low grade) systemic inflammation. In medical research, experimental (whole-body) bed rest and (local) limb immobilization are typically applied in healthy volunteers to investigate the impact of disuse on the loss of muscle mass and strength. Previous work, based on combined results of separate studies, has suggested that immobilization leads to more pronounced muscle loss than bed rest due to the greater degree of restriction imposed (Clark, 2009). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.