Skeletal Muscle Mass And Bone Mineral Density Of Japanesealpinist Mr. Yuichiro Miura.

Abstract

PURPOSE: In this study, we report on the skeletal muscle mass and bone mineral density of Japanese alpinist Mr. Yuichiro Miura who is the oldest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest (8,848m) at the age of 80 years compared with Japanese community-dwelling middle-aged and older men. METHOD: The appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), total bone mineral density (tBMD), whole body fat free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI) in Mr. Miura (84.6 yr) and 209 community-dwelling middle-aged and older men (50-79 yr, mean age: 68.1 yr) were obtained by dual X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: The SMI, tBMD, FFMI and FMI in Mr. Miura were 8.79 kg/m2, 1.075 g/cm2, 22.3 kg/m2 and 9.8 kg/m2, respectively, and in the community-dwelling middle-aged and older men 7.46 ± 0.81 kg/m2, 1.020 ± 0.100 g/cm2, 18.1 ± 1.9 kg/m2 and 5.5 ± 1.7 kg/m2, respectively. The values were higher in Mr. Miura than the community-dwelling middle-aged and older men, with z-scores for the SMI and tBMD of 1.63 and 0.55, respectively. CONCLUSION: Mr. Miura maintained total body bone mineral density and skeletal muscle mass at a high level even at the age of 84 years which may in part be due to his long-term training for mountain climbing.