Exercise and calcium supplementation prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women.

2003 OCT 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers in the departments of physiology and nutritional sciences at the University of Arizona (UA) has uncovered that weight-bearing and resistance exercises combined with calcium citrate supplementation over 1 year provided significant improvement in bone mineral density (BMD) of postmenopausal women at specific important skeletal sites.

The detailed findings were released in Osteoporosis International, a clinical publication on the disease. Notably, this benefit was found both in women not on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and in women on HRT.

"The good news is that this study has identified a powerful combination of improved nutrition and increased physical activity that prevents bone loss," said Timothy Lohman, PhD, professor of physiology at the UA and principal investigator on the study.

"The bottom line: when combined with calcium citrate supplementation, weight-bearing and resistance exercises offer a benefit in building bone mineral density." (Mission Pharmacal supplied Citracal calcium citrate supplements for the study.)

Study co-investigator Lauve Metcalfe, director of community programs and exercise interventionist, UA department of physiology, added, "The study focused on a regimen of six specific exercises that help build bone in the hip and spine-two key fracture sites."

The UA investigators have developed a specific exercise regimen that they consider most effective in building bone in typically vulnerable areas. They suggest 20 to 25 minutes of resistance training - two sets of six to eight repetitions - using these six exercises: back extension, leg press, squats, lat pulldown, dumbbell press, and seated row.

Seven to 10 minutes of cardiovascular weight-bearing activity, such as skipping, jogging, and jumping rope, round out the study regimen.