What Causes Muscle Loss?

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic condition that causes the muscles to deteriorate over time and leads to weakness.
Failing to exercise causes muscle loss, especially over time.
A child suffering from muscular dystrophy may suffer from frequent falls.
Diseases which cause muscle loss eventually leave people needing to use a wheelchair or other aid to stay mobile.
Severe muscle loss may inhibit an individual from performing basic tasks, such as teeth brushing.
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  • Written By: Jacob Queen
  • Edited By: Lauren Fritsky
  • Last Modified Date: 01 November 2015
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The main cause of muscle loss tends to be an overall lack of exercise. For example, people with jobs where they sit at a computer all day will often experience some muscle loss unless they include supplementary exercises. Injuries frequently lead to a weakening of muscle for the same basic reason. Other primary causes of lost muscle include aging, diseases or injuries to the nervous system, and illnesses that directly attack the musculature. Some kinds of loss can be overcome through lifestyle changes or treatments, while others are generally permanent.

When muscles aren’t used, the body gradually allows them to decrease. Individuals who don’t get enough exercise will tend to slowly lose muscle for years and years. It can potentially take a long time for this process to become noticeably severe, but maintaining significant amounts of muscle, like the muscle mass of an athlete, for example, takes fairly constant maintenance. If someone is suffering from this kind of muscle reduction, a more active lifestyle can often be enough to reverse the situation.

As people age, their bodies stop regenerating cells as rapidly. This is what causes many of the outward signs of aging, and it is also responsible for a certain amount of muscle loss. It’s also generally true that people tend to exercise a lot less as they get older, and this helps exaggerate the muscle, reducing effects of aging. If frequent exercise is maintained, older people can avoid a lot of muscle loss.


Injuries tend to cause muscle reduction for a few different reasons. Sometimes injuries simply confine a person to a bed for a certain amount of time, and this can cause muscle loss all over the individual's body. In other cases, an injury may simply cause a person to stop using certain muscles, and this can cause more localized muscle reduction.

Disorders of the nervous system have the potential to cause severe muscle loss. This often happens because the nerves simply stop sending impulses to certain muscles. If the muscles don’t move, they gradually decrease in size for the same reason people who live sedentary lives tend to lose muscle.

There are also diseases that simply cause muscles to decrease by directly destroying muscle tissue. A common example would be the various forms of muscular dystrophy. These kinds of diseases are usually difficult to treat because they are often based on genetic predispositions.


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Post 3

Muscle loss can also occur when you fail to eat a healthy and complete breakfast. This is the most important meal of the day for several reasons. After sleeping all night, your body has gone hours without food and it needs to be replenished.

Post 2

It is no secret that you need protein to build muscles. You can exercise all you want but if you don't feed your body what it needs then it can't build and will actually lose muscle.

Consider adding more protein to your diet if you are experiencing muscle loss. This is assuming you are also doing at least an average amount of exercise. When you add protein be sure to add whole proteins like the ones found in animal products.

Personally, I find that eggs, fish and protein shakes made with milk are great for building muscles. Generally, plant proteins are incomplete proteins and are not as effective with muscle building. However, soy beans and potatoes contain whole proteins so those are good options for vegetarians.

Post 1

A few years ago, I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed for the first time that my arms were considerably smaller than I remembered them being for most of my adult life. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about my midsection. When I looked more closely, I could see that the muscles throughout my body were smaller and less defined.

It sneaked up on me, but I assumed the muscle wasting was a product of me getting older and I would have to live with it. When I discussed the loss of muscle with my doctor he assured me that my muscle loss, and my fat gain, had more to do with my lifestyle than my

age. When I was younger I was an athlete and I lifted weights regularly.

I took my doctors advice and started working out again. I don't lift as much heavy weight as I did previously, and I don't lift as often, but I have gotten back into the habit and I have regained some muscle mass.

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