We meet on September 15th at 10.00am in the main hall at John Godber Centre. I am pleased to report that we have a guest speaker, Isabel (Izzy) Ely, who is a postgraduate researcher at the:
Centre of Metabolism, Ageing & Physiology (COMAP) Academic Unit of Injury, Recovery & Inflammation Sciences, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences University of Nottingham, Royal Derby Hospital Centre
In her own words this is the rationale of study that she is currently undertaking.
The loss of skeletal muscle mass (known as atrophy) is an undesirable feature of many disease and scenarios including ageing, cancer and reduced physical activity from illness, injury or increased sedentarism. One mechanism thought to influence age-related muscle mass loss is “anabolic resistance” which leads to a reduced muscle building ability in response to protein feeding and exercise. As such, the search for optimal exercise and/or nutritional strategies to combat this anabolic blunting effect remains a hot-topic in scientific research.
The study focus
The study I am currently running is focused on a specific amino acid (the building blocks of protein) called leucine which is thought to be the most important amino acid for stimulating the muscle building process. We are investigating whether there is a dose-response of muscle protein building to “super whey” protein (a protein drink with a greater portion of leucine) at rest and during acute exercise.
I have to admit to a vested interest as I am one of the ‘specimens’ being tested.
David Rose