People with osteopenia have bones that are weaker than normal. Over time, osteopenia often develops into osteoporosis—a disease in which the bones are thin and brittle, and break easily. Current treatments to prevent osteopenia from developing into osteoporosis include medications, dietary supplements, and lifestyle changes, but these interventions are not always effective and medications can have significant side effects.
The purpose of this study is to find out if a natural treatment option that includes weight-bearing exercises (called osteogenic loading) and melatonin supplements can improve bone health and overall quality of life in people with osteopenia and reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis or an osteoporosis-related fracture in the future. Researchers hope their findings lead to better ways to help people with bone loss in the future.
We report the first population-based study of the relationship between hip BMD, or indeed any bone outcome, and physical activity as measured by partitioning the output from accelerometry into a range of impact bands. We found that >4.2g impacts were positively related to hip BMD, suggesting that high-impact activities like running produce BMD gains of the lower limb. In contrast, impacts below this threshold may have little benefit, suggesting that strains associated with moderately high-impact activities such as jogging have relatively little effect on BMD. Whereas these studies were performed in adolescents, further investigations are justified to determine whether equivalent thresholds apply to the remainder of the life-course.
Axial Bone Osteogenic Loading-Type Resistance Therapy Showing BMD and Functional Bone Performance Musculoskeletal Adaptation Over 24 Weeks with Postmenopausal Female Subjects
Objective: To determine the efficacy of osteogenic loading (OL) specific therapy for bone mass density (BMD) and musculoskeletal bone performance adaptations in both osteopenic and osteoporotic postmenopausal female subjects
Aim: To determine bone density adaptation from multiple-of-bodyweight (MOB) compressive force with exercise apparatus designed for osteogenic loading.
Introduction: Forces that briefly bend or compress bone stimulate an adaptive response of BMD growth in accordance with Wolff’s Law [3]. A novel apparatus that allows for these compressive forces to the level required to potentially have effect on osteoblastic function has been developed.