Effect of aging and anthropometric measurement on nerve conduction properties - A Review

Aging is a process that is often accompanied by physiological changes. These physiological changes include slowing in muscle contractility, alteration in muscle metabolism and neuromuscular junction, and reduction in nerve conduction velocity (NCV). Age has been widely accepted to have an influence on nerve velocity. It is well established that there is a decline in muscular performance with advancing age. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) are the most sensitive and reproducible measure of peripheral nerve functions. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) are performed to diagnose the disorders of the peripheral nervous system. These enable the clinicians to differentiate the two major groups of peripheral diseases: demyelination and axonal degeneration. These also help in localizing the site of the lesions. Majority of the available literature mentioning effects of age and anthropometric factors on nerve conduction measures have been referred in the present review. Various studies referred to are based on the data on healthy subjects. The references were further supplemented by systematic search on pubmed, google and Pedro with keywords age, temperature, height and nerve conduction. Several specific studies that had been dealt on anthropometric measures and nerve conduction on normal subjects were also included in this review. A total of fifty five research studies dealing with age, anthropometric measurements and nerve conduction properties have been found in the literature reviewed up to 2011.