Table of Contents
- Overview
- Prevention
Information
Many people are concerned with changes in their body shape as they age. Although some changes inevitably occur with aging, your lifestyle choices may slow or speed up these changes.
The human body is made up of fat, lean tissue (muscles and organs), bones, water, and other substances. As we age, the amount and distribution of these materials will change.
Fat tissue may increase toward the center of the body, including around the abdominal organs. The amount of body fat may increase by as much as 30%.
As fat increases, lean body mass decreases. Your muscles, liver, kidney, and other organs may lose some of their cells. This process of muscle loss is called atrophy. Bones may lose some of their minerals and become less dense (a condition called osteopenia, or at its later stage, osteoporosis). Tissue loss reduces the amount of water in your body.
You may become shorter. The tendency to become shorter occurs among all races and both sexes. Height loss is related to
Review Date: 12/13/2010
Reviewed By: Michael Langan, M.D. Department of Geriatrics, Massachusetts
General Hospital, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare
Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director,
A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
