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Immediate Benefits With Exercise on Bone, Muscle in Early Menopause
Archives of Internal Medicine
05/28/2004
By Martha Kerr
Positive benefits on bond density and muscle strength can be seen within 6 months of the initiation of an exercise program in women in early menopause, say researchers.
Dr. Wolfgang Kemmler and colleagues with the Erlangen Fitness Osteoporosis Protection Prevention Study (EFOPS) at the University of Erlangen, Germany, assigned 50 "fully compliant" early menopausal women between the ages of 48 and 60 to an exercise group and 33 women were controls. Subjects in the exercise group participated in 2 group training and 2 home training programs a week. Both subjects and controls received calcium and cholcalciferol during the 26-week study period.
Investigators measured bone mineral density at the lumbar spine, the proximal femur and the forearm using either quantitative computed tomography or dual-energy x-ray absorbiometry at baseline and at 26 weeks. Physical fitness was assessed according to maximum strength and cardiovascular performance.
At study end, the exercise group demonstrated an increase in trunk extensor strength of 36.5% compared with 1.7% in the control group. Trunk flexor strength increased 39.3% compared with a loss of 0.4% in controls. Maximum oxygen consumption increased 12.4% in study subjects compared with a loss of 2.3% in controls.
Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine increased 0.7% after 26 weeks of exercise compared with a loss of 2.3% in the control group. In particular, the trabecular region of L1-L3 increased 0.4% compared with a loss of 6.6% in controls and the cortical region of L1-L3 increased 3.1% in the exercise group and dropped 1.7% in controls.
Total serum cholesterol dropped 5.0% and serum triglycerides dropped 14.2% with exercise compared with an increase of 4.1% and 23.2%, respectively, in controls. Study subjects also reported less back pain than their more sedentary counterparts.
"General purpose exercise programs with special emphasis on bone density can significantly improve strength and endurance and reduce bone loss, back pain and lipid levels in osteopenic women in their critical early postmenopausal years," the investigators concluded.
Arch Int Med. 2004;164:1084-1091.
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