Summary
A program of diverse and dynamic loading exercises of the distal forearm, a common site of osteoporotic fractures, was applied three times a week for 5 months to 14 postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Two parameters were used to assess the effect of the exercises on bone mass. The mass density of bone (g/cm3) was measured by the Compton scattering technique. The bone mineral content (g/cm2) was measured by single photon absorptiometry. Both measurements were taken at the same location in the distal radius 1 year prior to the exercise period, at its beginning, and at its end, in both the exercised group and a matched control group of 25 osteoporotic women. During the exercise period the mean bone density decreased by 1.9% in the control group whereas it increased by 3.8% in the exercise group. The bone mineral content results did not demonstrate any significant trend over the whole period of the study. It is concluded that the trabecular bone tissue in the distal radius of postmenopausal osteoporotic women responds favorably to dynamic and diverse bone stressing exercises even in the seventh decade of life.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Knowelden J, Buhr AJ, Dunbar O (1984) Incidence of fractures in persons over 35 years of age. Br J Prev Soc Med 18:130–141
Milhaud G, Christiansen C, Gallagher C, Reeve J, Seeman E, Chestnut C, Parfitt A (1983) Pathogenesis and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Calcif Tissue Int 35:708–711
Smith EL (1982) Exercise for prevention of osteoporosis: a review. Physician Sport Med 12:72–83
Yeater RA, Martin RB (1984) Senile osteoporosis—the effects of exercise. Postgraduate Med 75:147–163
Donaldson CH, Hulley SB, Vogel JM, Hattner RS, Bayes JH, McMillan DE (1970) Effect of prolonged bedrest on bone mineral. Metabolsm 19:1071–1084
Krolner B, Toft (1983) Vertebral bone loss: an unheeded side effect of therapeutic bed rest. Clin Sci 64:537–540
Dalen N, Olsson KE (1974) Bone mineral content and physical activity. Acta Orthop Scand 45:170–174
Skrobak-Kaczynski J, Anderson KL (1974) Age-dependent osteoporosis among men habituated to a high level of physical activity. Acta Morphol Neerl Scand 12:283–292
Huddleston AL, Rockwell D, Julund DN (1980) Bone mass in lifetime tennis athletes. JAMA 244:1107–1109
Jacobson PC, Beaver W, Grubb SA, Taft TN, Talmage RV (1984) Bone density in women: college athletes and older athletic women. J Orthop Res 2:328–332
Carter DR (1982) The relationship between in vivo strains and cortical bone remodelling. Crit Rev Biomed Eng 8:1–28
Lanyon LE, Rubin CT, O'Connor JA, Goodship AE (1982) The stimulus for mechanically adaptive bone remodelling. In: Menczel J, Robin GC, Makin M, Steinberg R (eds) Osteoporosis, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp 135–147
Smith RW, Rizek J (1966) Epidemiological studies of osteoporosis in women of Puerto Rico and southeastern Michigan with special reference to age, race, national origin and to other related or associated findings. Clin Orthop Rel Res 45:31–48
Courpron P (1981) Bone tissue mechanisms underlying osteoporosis. Orthop Clin N AM 12:513–545
Hazan G, Leichter I, Weinreb A, Robin GC (1977) Early detection of osteoporosis by gamma-ray spectroscopy. Phys Med Biol 22:1073–1084
Leichter I, Bivas A, Giveon A, Margulies JY, Weinreb A (in press) On the significance of trabecular and cortical bone density as a diagnostic index for osteoporosis. Clin Orthop Rel Res
Awbrey BJ, Jacobson PC, Grubb SA, McCartney WH, Vincent LM, Talmage RB (1984) Bone density in women: a modified procedure for measurement of distal radius density. J Orthop Res 2:314–327
Aloia JF, Cohn SH, Ostuni JA, Cane R, Ellis K (1978) Prevention of involutional bone loss by exercise. Ann Intern Med 89:356–358
Krolner B, Toft B, Pors Neilsen S, Tondevold E (1983) Physical exercise as a prophylaxis against involutional vertebral bone loss: a controlled trial. Clin Sci 64:537–540
Smith EL, Reddan W, Smith PE (1981) Physical activity and calcium modalities for bone mineral increase in aged women. Med Sci Sports Exer 13:60–64
Smith EL, Smith PE, Ensign CJ, Sheamm (1984) Bone involution decrease in exercising middle-aged women. Calcif Tissue Int 36:S129-S138
Schlenker PA, Von Seggen WW (1976) The distribution of cortical and trabecular bone mass along the lengths of the radius and ulna and the implications for in vivo bone mass measurements. Calcif Tissue Res 20:41–52
Wahner HW, Riggs BL, Beabout JW (1977) Diagnosis of osteoporosis: usefulness of photon absorptiometry at the radius. J Nucl Med 18:432–437
Schlenker RA, Kolek TJ (1979) Effect of arm orientation on bone mineral mass and bone width measured using the Cameron-Sorenson technique. Med Phys 6:105–109
Mazess RB (1979) Noninvasive measurement of bone. In: Barzel U (ed) Osteoporosis II. Grune and Stratton, New York, pp 5–26
Rubin CT, Lanyon LE (1984) Regulation of bone formation by applied dynamic loads. J Bone Joint Surg 66A:397–402
Meunier P, Aaron J, Edouard C, Vignon G (1971) Osteoporosis and the replacement of cell population of the marrow by adipose tissue. Clin Orthop Rel Res 80:147–154
Minaire P, Edouard C, Arlot M, Meunier PJ (1984) Marrow changes in paraplegic patients. Calcif Tissue Int 36:338–340
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simkin, A., Ayalon, J. & Leichter, I. Increased trabecular bone density due to bone-loading exercises in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Calcif Tissue Int 40, 59–63 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02555706
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02555706