Eli5: why do muscles and joints ache or get stiff with age?
In: Biology
Your connective tissue gets stiff due to changes in aging – cartilage becomes thinner and there is less of the lubricating fluids between the joints. Bones change as you get older – as you become more inactive the bones loose mass. Hormonal changes can accelerate this. Given that joints are moving parts this becomes a vicious cycle- the joints rub together with less protection making movement hurt. Since movement hurts you’re less active – that causes your body to rob the bones of mass and that causes your joints to get stiffer.
Since these changes happen later on in life, when most humans are past their child-bearing ages, we can’t “breed” these changes out.
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