Open AccessElectrical stimulation counteracts muscle atrophy associated with aging in humans
Author(s) -
Helmut Kern,
Stefan Löefler,
Samantha Burggraf,
Hannah Fruhmann,
Ján Cvečka,
Milan Sedliak,
Laura Barberi,
Manuela De Rossi,
Antonio Musarò,
Ugo Carraro,
Simone Mosole,
Sandra Zampieri
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of translational myology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.271
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 2037-7460
pISSN - 2037-7452
DOI - 10.4081/bam.2013.3.105
Subject(s) - functional electrical stimulation , stimulation , atrophy , medicine , muscle atrophy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , vastus lateralis muscle , timed up and go test , electrical muscle stimulation , neuroscience , skeletal muscle , biology , balance (ability)
Functional and structural muscle decline is a major problem during aging. Our goal was to improve in old subjects quadriceps m. force and mobility functional performances (stair test, chair rise test, timed up and go test) with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (9 weeks, 2-3times/week, 20-30 minutes per session). Furthermore we performed histological and biological molecular analyses of vastus lateralis m. biopsies. Our findings demonstrate that electrical stimulation significantly improved mobility functional performancies and muscle histological characteristics and molecular markers