Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a deterioration in the structural integrity of bone and loss of bone density due to demineralization that eventually causes fragile bones and an increased risk of fracture.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gnr_uDS7482r9e1yANYvugFpDJhsGEOwjYleDvntPT5l9bbKhdoM0Jj5jHtQAz7iEsDFFO2eAmCV8Qiu1fZ3Owm9wLCi0fxO8EBX5wGVj7lCL3gNkZV-OcdH2A

http://www.livtherapy.eu/education/osteoporosis.html

You had several images that more or less showed the same thing. I deleted the two worst images, which owere of poor resolution.

 

The video below provides a brief summary of osteoporosis. (1.5 min)

 

Over 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, 80% of whom are women. A drop in estrogen in menopausal women and a drop in testosterone in aging men affects the body's ability to produce bone tissue at a fast enough rate. Post-menopausal women lose bone mineral density at a rate of 1-5% every year. Men's bone mineral density is not significantly affected by age until they are older in years. (www.livtherapy.edu)

This is a public health concern, because it leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Osteoporosis also impairs mobility and one's ability to continue exercising, as well as their ability to work and financially provide for themselves and their families. The financial strain felt by the government is great, and diseases exacerbated by age make a significant impact.

FYI: FYI?

Osteoporosis can also lead to compression fractures of the spine. Often these fractures occur with little to no pain, and may go unnoticed until visible shrinking or stooping of the spine.

Terrible resolultion on this image. Must be a better one.

  https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/LuvyU_yNt92S3pdlg6LBquZ2A_eZDAYXiIROewIPDNsQDKkEzW_tQ7H5SIg_PHF04-mjOyO1pG6nUnV8Zhv_ZnOyTN0QsUWOu_FDpBI0yzapv0WMxqw2py5Wzw

(www.houghton.com)                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 How about these instead?

Source:

http://umm.edu/programs/spine/health/guides/thoracic-compression-fractures

 

 

 

Source:

http://www.joelgarrismd.com/vcf-overview.html

 

 

 

Exercise as Prevention and Treatment

This is a confusing jumble. I can't make sense of the jumble of citations and single sentence observations.

Weight-bearing exercise is one of the most effective methods for osteoporosis prevention and treatment. The force of gravity allows simple bodyweight exercises to enact a significant increase in bone mineral density. In addition to the load or weight exerted upon muscles, the frequency of the strain is beneficial to bone mineral density as well. However, swimming does not provide any benefits to bone density because the activity is non-weight bearing.

Lower body weight-bearing exercise, including jumping and lunges, has proven to increase bone mineral density in populations of all ages, from children to postmenopausal women and the elderly. [Taaffe DR, Snow-Harter C, et al.: Differential effects of swimming versus weight-bearing activity on bone mineral status of eumenorrheic athletes. J. Bone Miner. Res. 10: 1995;586-593.]

A cohort of 2,205 middle aged men were enrolled in a longitudinal study for 35 years, in order to measure exercise's impact on risk of fracture. Men with a sedentary lifestyle or men who walked or bicycled only for pleasure had an increased risk of hip fracture compared with men who participated in regular sports activities for at least 3 h/wk. [Michaëlsson, K., Olofsson H, Jensevik K, Larsson S., Mallmin H, Berglund L, et al. Leisure physical activity and the risk of fracture in men. PLoS Medicine 2007;4(6), e199.]

Witzke and Snow performed a cohort study comparing 25 exercisers with 28 controls, all of whom were adolescent girls. The exercisers performed lower body exercises three times per week with weighted vests. The results suggest that plyometric jumping training may increase peak bone mass during adolescence when performed over a longer period of time. [Witzke KA and Snow CM: Effects of plyometric jump training on bone mass in adolescent girls. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2000;32 (6):1051-1057.]

What are these next two for?

In a 2001 study, Fuchs, Bauer, and Snow carried out a cohort study in which they compared two groups of children who participated in a 7-month exercise intervention during the school day three times per week. The jumping group performed 100 two-footed jumps off 61 cm boxes each session, while the control group performed non-impact stretching exercises. After the 7 months, jumpers had significantly greater changes at the femoral neck and lumbar spine than controls (4.5% and 3.1%). Bone mineral density at the lumbar spine was significantly greater in jumpers than in controls (2.0%) and approached statistical significance at the femoral neck (1.4%; p = 0.085). Their findings show that jumping at ground reaction forces of eight times body weight is a safe, effective, and simple method of improving bone mass at the hip and spine in children. I can't make any sense out of this. Which is jumping and which is control and which is femur and which is lumbar spine?

[Fuchs RK, Bauer JJ, and Snow CM: Jumping improves hip and lumbar spine bone mass in prepubescent children: a randomized controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res. 2001;16:148-156.]

Some authors believe that osteocytes in bone act as mechanosensors, and that they respond to weight bearing stresses by synthesizing and secreting chemical mediators that result in greater bone density. [Hingorjo, M., Syed, S., Qureshi, M. (2008). Role of exercise in osteoporosis prevention - Current concepts. J Pak Med Association 58 (2): 78-81.]

In summary, the benefit of exercise as an osteoporosis intervention result from its ability to:

  1. Maximize the peak bone mass attained in youth
  2. Maintain bone mass or reduce age-related bone loss
  3. Preserve muscle strength and postural stability to reduce the risk of falling and fracturing in the later years

 spacerToggle open/close quiz question

All exercises that involve intense muscle contractions help to increase bone mineral density.