Recent study finds that high impact exercise influences bone mineral density in old age

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A recent study¹ conducted by Juntendo University in Japan has determined what forms of adolescent sports can lead to an increase in areal bone mineral density. Research has found that exercise during adolescence may increase areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and therefore lead to a higher aBMD at old age, potentially reducing the risk of fractures. According to a press release, age-related loss of BMD is one of the causes of osteoporosis, which is one of the leading causes of falls on older adults in Japan.

In the study, 1,596 older adults (681 men and 915 women) between the ages of 65 and 84 years living in an urban area in Japan were evaluated for their femoral neck and lumbar spine aBMD with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Researchers also used multiple regression analysis to determine the association between adolescent sports played and aBMD in old age, with femoral neck and lumbar spine aBMD as dependent variables, and sports types and characteristics such as age, body weight, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level, as independent variables.

Results showed that basketball was significantly associated with higher aBMB in older men and women, and volleyball and swimming was significantly associated with higher lumbar spine aBMD in older women. No association between adolescent sports type and lumbar spince aBMD was found for older men.

“BMD is difficult to increase once it decreases. Therefore, it is important to increase peak bone mass during adolescence to maintain BMD in old age,” explained Professor Yoshifumi Tamura, one of the study’s authors. “Our study sheds light on the importance of exercise in adolescence for the prevention of osteoporosis and provides scientific evidence for establishing early preventive measures against osteoporosis in the future.”

While the sports plays at adolescence did influence aBMD in older subjects, so did other health factors. For example, body weight and serum vitamin D levels influenced femoral BMD, while body weight, serum vitamin D and the presence of diabetes influenced lumbar spine BMD. The study did not consider exercise habits spanning from adulthood to old age, therefore it’s possible that those who engaged in high-impact sports during adolescence may have continued to do so during later years, contributing to their BMD. However, during preliminary analysis that accounted for limited data of exercise habits between the ages of 20 and 50, researchers still found that the association with sports and BMD persisted.

Further investigation is necessary but the study’s big takeaway is that the subjects involved were not elite athletes, and therefore, participation in high impact sports during adolescence may have long term benefits, even if just recreational.

Reference

Otsuka, H.; Tabata, H.; Shi, H.; Sugimoto, M.; Kaga, H.; Someya, Y.; Naito, H.; Ito, N., et al. Playing basketball and volleyball during adolescence is associated with higher bone mineral density in old age: the Bunkyo Health Study. Front. Physiol., 2023, 14. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1227639