The effects of exercise intervention on bone mineral density with a quantitative analysis of skeletal loading and mechanical loading stimuli due to exercise

David Dale Anderson, Purdue University

Abstract

Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone density and afflicts nearly one-quarter of women of Anglo-Saxon origin in the U.S. In the search for a way to prevent this disease, the Purdue Bone Health Study is investigating the effects of exercise on bone health. The goal of this dissertation, as part of the Purdue Bone Health Study, is to quantify the skeletal loads and mechanical loading stimuli due to an exercise intervention protocol. The mechanical loading stimuli are utilized in regression studies to quantify the relationship between mechanical loading due to exercise and changes in bone health. Specifically, changes in bone mineral density (BMD) are monitored in the femoral neck, lumbar spine, and mid-radius at six, twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four months after onset of intervention. Regression analyses resulted in no statistically significant correlations between the mechanical loading stimuli in the femoral neck and mid-radius due to exercise and the changes in BMD at these two sites. Changes in lumbar spine L2-L4 BMD were found to be related to the mechanical loading stimulus due to exercise, baseline L2-L4 BMD, and oral contraceptive use. The roles of baseline BMD and oral contraceptive use as predictive variables changed through the two years of the study. The study has demonstrated a positive quantitative relationship between exercise intervention and changes in bone mineral density in the lumbar spine.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Hillberry, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Biomedical research|Mechanical engineering|Rehabilitation|Therapy

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