Muscle atrophy facts for kids
Muscle atrophy or “muscle wastage” is a medical problem where a person loses muscle tissue. This makes the person's muscles weaker. With muscle atrophy, muscles can waste away completely, or only partly.
Many older people have muscular atrophy. Muscles can atrophy (or get smaller and weaker) when those muscles are not used as much as usual - for example, when a person has to wear a cast for a broken arm or leg, or when a person must be on bed rest for a long time during a long illness.
Muscular atrophy can cause serious problems in a person's life. As the person loses muscle strength, he will lose the ability to do more and more things.
Muscle atrophy can be treated
- by exercise which induces an increase in muscle mass. The exercise down-regulates the pathways which induce muscle hypertrophy, or an increase in muscle size.
- by the use of functional electrical stimulation to stimulate the muscles. This has seen a large amount of success in the rehabilitation of paraplegic patients.
- by therapy with muscle-building amino acids for regenerating damaged or atrophied muscle tissue.
Images for kids
See also
In Spanish: Atrofia muscular para niños
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Muscle atrophy Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.