Functional Electrical Stimulation of Skeletal Muscles in Aging and Premature Aging

Abstract

All progressive muscle contractile impairments (including age-related muscle weakness) need permanent management. We discuss evidence that subclinical denervation contributes to atrophy and slowness of aged muscle, and we provide stimulation protocols for aged and denervated skeletal muscles. We describe in Sect. 11.1 the effects of home-based neuromuscular FES in elderly persons and then in Sect. 11.2 the diagnostics, training protocols, and clinical results of home-based functional electrical stimulation (h-b FES) for denervated–degenerated skeletal muscle tissue. Using molecular analyses, histological morphometry, and Muscle Color Computed Tomography, we evaluated muscles of elderly persons, showing that increased levels of muscle contractions induced by h-b FES reverse muscle weakness and atrophy both in sedentary seniors and in conus and cauda equina complete syndrome.