MedWire News: Regular impact exercise does not persistently alter levels of bone turnover markers in postmenopausal women, Finnish study findings suggest.
Writing in the journal Osteoporosis International, the researchers say their results emphasize the “necessity of continuous training to achieve bone benefits.”
Previously, Aki Vainionpää (University of Oulu) and co-workers found that long-term regular impact exercise increased bone mineral density (BMD) and bone geometry in postmenopausal women.
Hypothesizing that impact exercise may increase bone turnover markers associated with bone formation, the team recruited 120 women aged 35–40 years and randomly assigned them to complete 12 months of an impact exercise program (n=60) or no intervention.
The exercise program consisted of three 60-minute weekly sessions of impact exercise supervised by a physiotherapist, plus four 10-minute sessions at home. All participants were asked to wear an accelerometer to measure daily impact loading, and their bone turnover markers and calciotropic hormone levels were measured at baseline and again after 6 and 12 months.
At 12 months, the treatment groups did not significantly differ in levels of the bone formation marker propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP) or the bone resorption marker type 5 tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP5b).
However, participants who completed the exercise program had a significantly greater decrease in serum basal parathyroid hormone (PTH) than controls (–11.2 vs –2.2 pg/ml).
Furthermore, the change in PTH showed a dose–dependent relationship with acceleration levels, with the greatest effect found in participants who had 96–130 daily impacts at 2.5–5.3 g, as associated with running or jumping.
Vainionpää et al conclude: “Impact exercise training lowers the serum basal PTH levels and possibly enables greater difference between the basal PTH and transient exercise-induced PTH peaks leading to osteogenic effects.”
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