Date: December 30, 2019
Source: Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in
the Helmholtz Association
Grizzly bears spend many months
in hibernation, but their muscles do not suffer from the lack of movement. In
the journal Scientific Reports, a team led by Michael Gotthardt reports on
how they manage to do this. The grizzly bears' strategy could help prevent
muscle atrophy in humans as well.
A grizzly bear only knows three
seasons during the year. Its time of activity starts between March and May.
Around September the bear begins to eat large quantities of food. And sometime
between November and January, it falls into hibernation. From a physiological
point of view, this is the strangest time of all. The bear's metabolism and
heart rate drop rapidly. It excretes neither urine nor feces. The amount of
nitrogen in the blood increases drastically and the bear becomes resistant to
the hormone insulin.
A person could hardly survive this
four-month phase in a healthy state. Afterwards, he or she would most likely
have to cope with thromboses or psychological changes. Above all, the muscles
would suffer from this prolonged period of disuse. Anyone who has ever had an
arm or leg in a cast for a few weeks or has had to lie in bed for a long time
due to an illness has probably experienced this.
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