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Research project

Musculoskeletal functional ability in three diverse Sub-Saharan Africa Populations: Prevalence, Nutritional Risk Factors and Implementable Solutions for better muscle health

Project overview

Loss of muscle strength and function is a common manifestation of ageing (known as sarcopenia), which leads to falls and fragility fractures (broken bones from low impact injuries), disability, frailty, and sometimes death. Despite this, little is known about how muscle ages in people living in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), nor the risk factors for muscle loss or the impact on quality of life. We will study three different populations in The Gambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. MUFASSA is an international cross-sectional study set across three countries in SSA, which broadly aims to assess muscle strength & function to understand healthy ageing. It is a 4 year project, which started in January 2022. More specifically MUFASSA aims to:i. Calculate how commonly muscle strength is impaired, physical functional is limited and muscle loss is experienced. ii. Understand to what extent losses in muscle strength and ability reduce the ability to perform activities of daily life, increase the risk of frailty and disability and how these impact quality of life. iii. Identify clinical, nutritional and metabolic risk factors for losses muscle function, to inform approaches to reduce future disability, and promote healthy ageing in SSA.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Kate Ward

Professor in Global M/skeletal Health
Connect with Kate

Email: [email protected]

Other researchers

Dr Jonathan Swann

Professor of Biomolecular Medicine
Connect with Jonathan

Email: [email protected]

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

Menopause is associated with bone loss, particularly at the distal radius, in black South African women
Mícheál Ó Breasail, Celia L. Gregson, Shane A. Norris, Tafadzwa Madanhire, Nicole Jaff, Nigel J. Crowther, Lisa K. Micklesfield & Kate A. Ward, 2022, Bone, 164
DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2022.116543
Type: article
Targeted proteomics of appendicular skeletal muscle mass and handgrip strength in Black South Africans: a cross-sectional study
Siphiwe N. Dlamini, Shane Norris, Amy E. Mendham, Asanda Mtintsilana, Kate Ward, Tommy Olsson, Julia H. Goedecke & Lisa K. Micklesfield, 2022, Scientific Reports, 12(1)
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13548-9
Type: article
Challenges to current and future bone health in young women living with HIV
Kate Ward, 2022, The Lancet Global Health, 10(5), E598-E599
DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00178-4
Type: letterEditorial
Nutrition in adolescent growth and development
Shane Norris, Edward A Frongillo, Maureen M Black, Yanhui Dong, Caroline Fall, Michelle Lampl, Angela D Liese, Mariam Naguib, Ann Prentice, Tamsen J. Rochat, Charles B Stephensen, Chiwoneso B Tinago, Kate Ward, Stephanie V. Wrottesley & George Patton, 2022, The Lancet, 399(10320), 172-184
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01590-7
Type: article
Role of the microbiome in regulating bone metabolism and susceptibility to osteoporosis
Owen Cronin, Susan Lanham-New, Bernard M. Corfe, Celia L. Gregson, Andrea L. Darling, Kourosh R Ahmadi, Philippa S. Gibson, Jonathan H. Tobias, Kate Ward, Maria H. Traka, Megan Rossi, Claire Williams, Nicholas Harvey, Cyrus Cooper, Kevin Whelan, André G. Uitterlinden, Paul W. O'Toole, Claes Ohlsson, Juliet E. Compston & Stuart H. Ralston, 2021, Calcified Tissue International
DOI: 10.1007/s00223-021-00924-2
Type: article