New UCLA research suggests that the more muscle mass older Americans have, the less likely they are to die prematurely. The findings add to growing evidence that overall body composition — and not the widely used body mass index, or BMI — is a better predictor of all-cause mortality. The study is the culmination of previous research by endocrinologist Preethi Srikanthan, MD (FEL ’04), that found that building muscle mass is important in decreasing metabolic risk.
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| Academy Award-winning actor Jack Palance, doing a one-handed pushup on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1994, stayed fit and lived to age 87. Photo: Margaret Norton/NBC Universal/Getty Images |
“As there is no gold-standard measure of body composition, several studies have addressed this question using different measurement techniques and have obtained different results,” Dr. Srikanthan says. “Our study indicates that clinicians need to be focusing on ways to improve body composition, rather than on BMI alone, when counseling older adults on preventive health behaviors.”
The researchers analyzed data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III, conducted between 1988 and 1994. They focused on a group of 3,659 individuals that included men who were 55 or older and women who were 65 or older at the time of the survey. The authors then determined how many of those individuals had died from natural causes, based on a follow-up survey done in 2004. The body composition of the study subjects was measured using bioelectrical impedance, which involves running an electrical current through the body. Muscle allows the current to pass more easily than fat does, due to muscle’s water content. In this way, the researchers could determine a muscle mass index — the amount of muscle relative to height. They looked at how this muscle mass index was related to the risk of death, and they found that all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the fourth quartile of muscle mass index compared with the first quartile.
This study does have some limitations. For instance, one cannot definitively establish a cause-and-effect relationship between muscle mass and survival using a cohort study such as NHANES III. “But we can say that muscle mass seems to be an important predictor of risk of death,” Dr. Srikanthan says. In addition, bioelectrical impedance is not the most-advanced measurement technique. “Despite these limitations, this study establishes the independent survivalprediction ability of muscle mass as measured by bioelectrical impedance in older adults, using data from a large, nationally representative cohort,” Dr. Srikanthan says. “We conclude that the measurement of muscle mass relative to body height should be added to the toolbox of clinicians caring for older adults. Future research should determine the type and duration of exercise interventions that improve muscle mass and potentially increase survival in healthy older adults.”
“Muscle Mass Index as a Predictor of Longevity in Older Adults,” American
Journal of Medicine, February 18, 2014
