Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Exercise During Growth and Young Adulthood Is Independently Associated With Cortical Bone Size and Strength in Old Swedish Men

Nilsson, Martin ; Sundh, Daniel ; Ohlsson, Claes ; Karlsson, Magnus LU ; Mellstrom, Dan and Lorentzon, Mattias (2014) In Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 29(8). p.1795-1804
Abstract
Previous studies have reported an association between exercise during youth and increased areal bone mineral density at old age. The primary aim of this study was to investigate if exercise during growth was independently associated with greater cortical bone size and whole bone strength in weight-bearing bone in old men. The tibia and radius were measured using both peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) (XCT-2000; Stratec) at the diaphysis and high-resolution pQCT (HR-pQCT) (XtremeCT; Scanco) at the metaphysis to obtain cortical bone geometry and finite element-derived bone strength in distal tibia and radius, in 597 men, 79.9 +/- 3.4 (mean +/- SD) years old. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information... (More)
Previous studies have reported an association between exercise during youth and increased areal bone mineral density at old age. The primary aim of this study was to investigate if exercise during growth was independently associated with greater cortical bone size and whole bone strength in weight-bearing bone in old men. The tibia and radius were measured using both peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) (XCT-2000; Stratec) at the diaphysis and high-resolution pQCT (HR-pQCT) (XtremeCT; Scanco) at the metaphysis to obtain cortical bone geometry and finite element-derived bone strength in distal tibia and radius, in 597 men, 79.9 +/- 3.4 (mean +/- SD) years old. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information about previous and current physical activity. In order to determine whether level of exercise during growth and young adulthood or level of current physical activity were independently associated with bone parameters in both tibia and radius, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analyses were used. Adjusting for covariates and current physical activity, we found that men in the group with the highest level of exercise early in life (regular exercise at a competitive level) had higher tibial cortical cross-sectional area (CSA; 6.3%, p<0.001) and periosteal circumference (PC; 1.6%, p = 0.011) at the diaphysis, and higher estimated bone strength (failure load: 7.5%, p<0.001; and stiffness: 7.8%, p<0.001) at the metaphysis than men in the subgroup with the lowest level of exercise during growth and young adulthood. Subjects in the group with the highest level of current physical activity had smaller tibial endosteal circumference (EC; 3.6%, p = 0.012) at the diaphysis than subjects with a lower current physical activity, when adjusting for covariates and level of exercise during growth and young adulthood. These findings indicate that exercise during growth can increase the cortical bone size via periosteal expansion, whereas exercise at old age may decrease endosteal bone loss in weight-bearing bone in old men. (C) 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
PERIPHERAL QUANTITATIVE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY, FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS, CORTICAL BONE, EXERCISE, OLD MEN
in
Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
volume
29
issue
8
pages
1795 - 1804
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000340243900012
  • scopus:84901848465
  • pmid:24585379
ISSN
1523-4681
DOI
10.1002/jbmr.2212
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
06c369b0-8aa9-4cc2-8bb6-9c8341666e69 (old id 4659585)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:10:26
date last changed
2022-04-12 21:06:11
@article{06c369b0-8aa9-4cc2-8bb6-9c8341666e69,
  abstract     = {{Previous studies have reported an association between exercise during youth and increased areal bone mineral density at old age. The primary aim of this study was to investigate if exercise during growth was independently associated with greater cortical bone size and whole bone strength in weight-bearing bone in old men. The tibia and radius were measured using both peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) (XCT-2000; Stratec) at the diaphysis and high-resolution pQCT (HR-pQCT) (XtremeCT; Scanco) at the metaphysis to obtain cortical bone geometry and finite element-derived bone strength in distal tibia and radius, in 597 men, 79.9 +/- 3.4 (mean +/- SD) years old. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information about previous and current physical activity. In order to determine whether level of exercise during growth and young adulthood or level of current physical activity were independently associated with bone parameters in both tibia and radius, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analyses were used. Adjusting for covariates and current physical activity, we found that men in the group with the highest level of exercise early in life (regular exercise at a competitive level) had higher tibial cortical cross-sectional area (CSA; 6.3%, p&lt;0.001) and periosteal circumference (PC; 1.6%, p = 0.011) at the diaphysis, and higher estimated bone strength (failure load: 7.5%, p&lt;0.001; and stiffness: 7.8%, p&lt;0.001) at the metaphysis than men in the subgroup with the lowest level of exercise during growth and young adulthood. Subjects in the group with the highest level of current physical activity had smaller tibial endosteal circumference (EC; 3.6%, p = 0.012) at the diaphysis than subjects with a lower current physical activity, when adjusting for covariates and level of exercise during growth and young adulthood. These findings indicate that exercise during growth can increase the cortical bone size via periosteal expansion, whereas exercise at old age may decrease endosteal bone loss in weight-bearing bone in old men. (C) 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Martin and Sundh, Daniel and Ohlsson, Claes and Karlsson, Magnus and Mellstrom, Dan and Lorentzon, Mattias}},
  issn         = {{1523-4681}},
  keywords     = {{PERIPHERAL QUANTITATIVE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY; FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS; CORTICAL BONE; EXERCISE; OLD MEN}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{1795--1804}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Bone and Mineral Research}},
  title        = {{Exercise During Growth and Young Adulthood Is Independently Associated With Cortical Bone Size and Strength in Old Swedish Men}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.2212}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/jbmr.2212}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}