ABSTRACT
The aim of this report was to study the relationship between the plantar flexion strength produced by contraction of the triceps surae (gastrocnemii-soleus) muscle and the calcaneus bone parameters assessed by quantitative ultrasound in 45 healthy postmenopausal women. Plantar flexion strength was related to calcaneus broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) (r = 0.43, P = 0.003) and to speed of sound (SOS) (r = 0.3, P = 0.04). Plantar flexion appeared to predict ultrasonic properties, independently of body weight (R2 = 19% and 9% for BUA and SOS, respectively). These results suggest that the stresses related to locomotion locally enhance bone remodeling but further studies are needed to identify the respective role of the compressive strains related to ground reaction forces at heel-strike and the muscular tensile strains applied on the calcaneus where the calcaneal tendon is inserted.
Subject(s)
Calcaneus/physiology , Foot/physiology , Muscle, Skeletal/physiology , Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena , Postmenopause/physiology , Tensile Strength , Calcaneus/diagnostic imaging , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Regression Analysis , Tendons/physiology , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
The present study completed a previous randomized trial that demonstrated the protective effect of 1-year psoas training on lumbar bone loss in postmenopausal women. Computerized tomography had been carried out at the beginning (CT1) and at the end (CT2) of this trial. In the present study, 67 women having completed the first trial were asked to practice psoas exercises (60 hip flexions in sitting position with a 5 kg weight on the knee) for 2 additional years with a third CT control at the end of this period (CT3). The aim of this complementary study was to assess the compliance rate and long-term effect on bone of daily psoas muscle training over a longer period. Twenty-one women performed this daily psoas training for 3 years from CT1 to CT3, and 14 acted as controls during the same period. Fourteen women were controls during the first year (from CT1 to CT2) but practiced psoas training during the following 2 years (from CT2 to CT3). Four women were psoas trained during the first year (from CT1 to CT2) and subsequently crossed over to the control group for the last 2 years. The compliance rate was 42%, with an attendance rate of 88%. The lumbar bone loss was lower in the 21 women trained over the 3 years (-3.26 +/- 28.45 mg/cm3) than in the 14 untrained women (-16.79 +/- 8.51 mg/cm3) (P = 0.02). The bone loss was not significantly reduced between the two periods of the study in the 12 women having been controls from CT1 to CT2 and having crossed over to the active training group from CT2 to CT3. Psoas training may be effective against lumbar bone loss. We conclude that specific training may play a contributing role in the preventive strategy to avoid osteoporosis.
Subject(s)
Exercise Therapy , Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/prevention & control , Psoas Muscles/physiopathology , Anthropometry , Bone Density , Cross-Over Studies , Female , Fractures, Spontaneous/epidemiology , Fractures, Spontaneous/prevention & control , Humans , Life Style , Lumbar Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging , Middle Aged , Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/diagnostic imaging , Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/epidemiology , Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/psychology , Patient Compliance , Psoas Muscles/diagnostic imaging , Psoas Muscles/pathology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Weight-BearingABSTRACT
On the premise that bone response to exercise is locally controlled, we conducted a randomized trial to evaluate the effects of a 1-year training of psoas muscles (treatment group: TG) versus a 1-year training of deltoid muscles (control group: CG) on the lumbar trabecular bone mineral density (TBMD). TBMD was measured with computed tomography scan. Seventy-eight subjects were included and 67 completed the study. Intention to treat analysis revealed no significant change in TBMD from 0 to 12 months. Data analysis in the 67 remaining women, including both assiduous and nonassiduous subjects, revealed greater bone loss in CG than in TG although the difference was not significant. Similar analysis in a subgroup of subjects who performed the exercises assiduously (TG: n = 23, CG: n = 26) showed that the mean bone loss of all four vertebrae from 0 to 12 months was significantly greater in the CG (-8.87 +/- 12.75 mg/cm3, mean +/- SD) than in the TG (0.14 +/- 11.21 mg/cm3, mean +/- SD, P = 0.01). These results suggest that continuous 1-year psoas training can prevent lumbar bone loss in postmenopausal women and support the hypothesis of local action of physical activity.
Subject(s)
Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/prevention & control , Physical Education and Training , Psoas Muscles/physiology , Bone Density , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Lumbosacral Region , Middle Aged , Patient Compliance , Physical Education and Training/methodsABSTRACT
The effectiveness of Ginkgo biloba extract in the treatment of cerebral disorders due to ageing was evaluated in a multicentric, double-blind, drug versus placebo trial involving 166 patients. In this study carried out under strict methodological conditions a specially devised geriatric clinical evaluation scale was used. The results confirmed that Ginkgo biloba extract is effective against cerebral disorders due to ageing. The difference between control and treatment groups became significant at 3 months and increased during the following months. These results were concordant with the overall clinical assessment made by the specialist in charge.
