Older postmenopausal women who participate in weight-bearing exercise maintain bone mineral density (BMD) better than women who do non-weight-bearing exercise, according to a study presented here Wednesday during the American College of Sports Medicine meeting.
Dr. Christine M. Snow and colleagues from Oregon State University, in Corvallis, followed 18 postmenopausal women of similar age, weight, and height, and baseline BMD measurements, through 5 years of exercise regimens. The subjects were randomized to exercise wearing a weighted vest or the same exercise regimen without the vest.
The women, who averaged 64 years of age at the start of the study, had been walkers but none was strong muscularly. Before beginning the protocol, study participants went through a series of "core" muscle-building exercises, Dr. Snow told Reuters Health.
Nine of the women then performed controlled jumps, three times a week for 32 weeks each year, while wearing a vest weighing about 11 pounds. The remaining participants exercised about 5 hours each week but did not engage in the weighted-vest routine, Dr. Snow explained.
The researchers report that BMD in the weighted-vest group increased about 1.5% in the femoral neck, and decreased just 0.24% in the trochanter and 0.82% in the total hip from baseline BMD. By comparison, BMD in controls decreased from baseline at all three measurement sites. The differences in BMD between the two groups ranged from 3% to 5%, Dr, Snow noted. A 5% advantage in bone mass equals a 30% reduction in fracture risk, she said.
Dr. Snow believes that long-term exercise combining weights with jumping are key to preserving bone mass in postmenopausal women. A previous 9-month study of similar exercises in older women showed no effect on bone density. The researchers in that study, "concluded that old bone doesn't respond to exercise as well as young bone," Dr. Snow told Reuters Health. "We think it may simply take longer."
Resource: (Reuters Health)
Additional resources: Reversing Osteopenia: The
Definitive Guide to Recognizing and Treating Early Bone Loss in Women of All
Ages McIlwain,
Bruce, Henry Holt & Co. 2004
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