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Age-Related Changes in Contractile Capacity of Lower Extremity Muscles Caused by Inadequate Blood Supply

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Abstract

Dynamometric chairs were used to determine the maximum torques of the lower extremity muscles in 25- to 70-year-old males, including 106 healthy subjects and 72 patients with compensated arterial insufficiency. Thigh and calf muscle strength was significantly lower in the patients. The age-related decrease in muscle torques took place two decades earlier in the patients than in the controls. The decrease was most pronounced in the plantar flexors and was accompanied by a decrease in the transverse muscle stiffness in subjects aged over 55. The function of the dorsal flexors was virtually unchanged within the age interval from 25 to 70 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ilizarov Research Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopedics, ul. M. Ul'yanovoi 6, Kurgan, 640014, Russia

    E. N. Shchurova, V. A. Shchurov & L. A. Grebenyuk

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  1. E. N. Shchurova
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  2. V. A. Shchurov
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  3. L. A. Grebenyuk
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Shchurova, E.N., Shchurov, V.A. & Grebenyuk, L.A. Age-Related Changes in Contractile Capacity of Lower Extremity Muscles Caused by Inadequate Blood Supply. Human Physiology 30, 209–215 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HUMP.0000021650.77878.2f

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