Post by BrusKO on Nov 30, 2007 14:23:08 GMT 8
RoadBikeRider.com Newsletter
Issue No. 320 - 11/29/07: Bad to the Bone
Bad to the Bone
When he smudged that Arizona highway during a transcontinental ride last June, Ed was just past his 61st birthday and had been an osteopenia patient for 10 years.
Those two facts, plus a hefty dose of bad luck, saw him fracture a hip bone that's typically hard to break.
Osteopenia? If you're not familiar with the malady just think of it as the stage between healthy hard bones and osteoporosis -- the debilitating loss of bone density associated with fragile, humped-over older women.
Ed was diagnosed with osteopenia the mid 1990s and has been on a high-calcium diet ever since. When a bone test ("DEXA scan") determined that he still had borderline-low spine and hip density, he went on the prescription drug Actonel (similar meds are Boniva and Fosamax). He'd been taking it for a year before his hip-cracking crash. Can he have a refund?
Now listen up, guys . . .
Ed's osteopenia isn't unusual for men whose main sport is bike riding or any other low-impact activity. Despite cycling's wonderful benefits for cardiovascular fitness and leg strength, it's been shown to work against bone health.
Researchers at the University of Missouri at Columbia are the latest to find that male cyclists are significantly more likely to have osteopenia and, therefore, a greater risk of fractures. The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Metabolism.
Most men don't realize the risk and, the study notes, most doctors don't either. They almost never check men's bone density, even after one is broken.
And yet the National Osteoporosis Foundation says that osteopenia affects nearly 12 million men in the U.S. and another 2 million have developed osteoporosis.
The Missouri researchers tested competitive male cyclists and runners. They found that 63% percent of the cyclists had osteopenia of the spine or hip compared with 19% percent of the runners. The big difference is attributed to the fact that running is a high-impact, weight-bearing sport while bike riding is neither.
The solution for us cyclists is to integrate weight-bearing exercises into our fitness programs. This could be cyclocross, running, hiking, basketball, tennis, even jumping rope -- you get the idea.
Weight training is also recommended. But Ed found it isn't a guarantee against osteopenia. He's been lifting pretty much year-round for the last three decades.
Tip! Guys, ask your doc to arrange a DEXA scan. Your medical insurance will probably pay for it and it doesn't hurt a bit -- except that you might have to get it at a women's health center. Take corrective action now if you're trending toward osteopenia. If studies on women can be applied to men, a 1% increase in bone density reduces the risk of fracture by as much as 5%.
Issue No. 320 - 11/29/07: Bad to the Bone
Bad to the Bone
When he smudged that Arizona highway during a transcontinental ride last June, Ed was just past his 61st birthday and had been an osteopenia patient for 10 years.
Those two facts, plus a hefty dose of bad luck, saw him fracture a hip bone that's typically hard to break.
Osteopenia? If you're not familiar with the malady just think of it as the stage between healthy hard bones and osteoporosis -- the debilitating loss of bone density associated with fragile, humped-over older women.
Ed was diagnosed with osteopenia the mid 1990s and has been on a high-calcium diet ever since. When a bone test ("DEXA scan") determined that he still had borderline-low spine and hip density, he went on the prescription drug Actonel (similar meds are Boniva and Fosamax). He'd been taking it for a year before his hip-cracking crash. Can he have a refund?
Now listen up, guys . . .
Ed's osteopenia isn't unusual for men whose main sport is bike riding or any other low-impact activity. Despite cycling's wonderful benefits for cardiovascular fitness and leg strength, it's been shown to work against bone health.
Researchers at the University of Missouri at Columbia are the latest to find that male cyclists are significantly more likely to have osteopenia and, therefore, a greater risk of fractures. The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Metabolism.
Most men don't realize the risk and, the study notes, most doctors don't either. They almost never check men's bone density, even after one is broken.
And yet the National Osteoporosis Foundation says that osteopenia affects nearly 12 million men in the U.S. and another 2 million have developed osteoporosis.
The Missouri researchers tested competitive male cyclists and runners. They found that 63% percent of the cyclists had osteopenia of the spine or hip compared with 19% percent of the runners. The big difference is attributed to the fact that running is a high-impact, weight-bearing sport while bike riding is neither.
The solution for us cyclists is to integrate weight-bearing exercises into our fitness programs. This could be cyclocross, running, hiking, basketball, tennis, even jumping rope -- you get the idea.
Weight training is also recommended. But Ed found it isn't a guarantee against osteopenia. He's been lifting pretty much year-round for the last three decades.
Tip! Guys, ask your doc to arrange a DEXA scan. Your medical insurance will probably pay for it and it doesn't hurt a bit -- except that you might have to get it at a women's health center. Take corrective action now if you're trending toward osteopenia. If studies on women can be applied to men, a 1% increase in bone density reduces the risk of fracture by as much as 5%.