Symptoms
Immobilization refers to the immobilization of parts of the body, for example, after an injury or surgery. It results in a rapid and significant loss of muscle mass and strength. In various studies, atrophy in the range of 20-70% has been observed in experiments on animals and humans over a period of 2-6 weeks. Atrophy is also observed with reduced exercise.
Causes
Mechanical loading, nervous stimulation, and joint movements play an important role in muscle development. In the absence of these, degradation occurs. Loss of muscle mass is due to a decrease in protein synthesis and increased protein breakdown, or a combination of the two processes.
Treatment
Muscle training can subsequently rebuild the muscle or prevent tissue loss. However, rebuilding is rarely complete, and deficits can still be detected years later.
