Whole-body vibration training (WBV) training has shown positive effects on bone strength, muscle strength, and balance, but the evidence on fall prevention is not yet persuasive. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of WBV training in preventing falls and improving physical performance among older adults at fall risk. The study was an assessor- and participant-blinded, randomized, and controlled 10-week training trial with a 10-month follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this scoping review was to conduct evidence-based documentations between calcium (Ca) intake and health outcomes for updating dietary reference values (DRVs) and food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) in the sixth edition of Nordic Nutrient Recommendations (NNR2023). The systematic literature search was limited to reviews on human data published between 2011 and June 2021. Systematic reviews (SRs) and original publications of relevance for this scoping review were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exercise interventions focusing on balance and strength training have been shown to be effective for falls prevention. The aim of this 20-year register-based follow-up was to examine whether long-term participation in recreational female gymnastics is associated with a lower risk of medically-attended injurious falls.
Methods: Health care register data of 187 women (103 recreational gymnasts and 84 sedentary controls) from the original cohort of 243 women were assessed.
Introduction: Low bone mineral density is a risk factor for fractures. The aim of this follow-up study was to assess the association of various bone properties with fall-related fractures.
Materials And Methods: 187 healthy women aged 55 to 83 years at baseline who were either physically active or inactive were followed for 20 years.
Background: Both exercise and vitamin D are recommended means to prevent falls among older adults, but their combined effects on fall-induced injuries are scarcely studied.
Methods: A 2-year follow-up of a previous 2-year randomized controlled trial with vitamin D and exercise (Ex) of 409 older home-dwelling women using a factorial 2 × 2 design (D-Ex-, D+Ex-, D-Ex+, D+Ex+). Besides monthly fall diaries, femoral neck bone mineral density (fn-BMD), and physical functioning were assessed at 1 and 2 years after the intervention.
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip is one of the major causes of pain and disability in the older population. Although exercise is an effective treatment for knee OA, there is lack of evidence regarding hip OA. The aim of this trial was to test the safety and feasibility of a specifically designed exercise program in relieving hip pain and improving function in hip OA participants and to evaluate various methods to measure changes in their physical functioning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence for the effects of exercise and vitamin D supplementation on quality of life (QoL), fear of falling (FoF) and mental wellbeing in older adults is conflicting.
Objective: To study the effects of vitamin D supplementation and multimodal group exercise on psychosocial functions of wellbeing, including QoL, mental wellbeing and FoF.
Method: This is a 2-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled vitamin D and open exercise intervention trial with 409 older Finnish women (70-80 years of age) randomized to 4 treatment arms: (1) placebo without exercise, (2) vitamin D (800 IU/day) without exercise, (3) placebo and exercise, and (4) vitamin D (800 IU/day) with exercise.
Objectives: To investigate the effects of multimodal supervised exercise on physical functioning, falls, and related injuries in older women.
Design: Two-year randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Tampere, Finland.
Background And Objective: previously, a randomised controlled exercise intervention study (RCT) showed that combined resistance and balance-jumping training (COMB) improved physical functioning and bone strength. The purpose of this follow-up study was to assess whether this exercise intervention had long-lasting effects in reducing injurious falls and fractures.
Design: five-year health-care register-based follow-up study after a 1-year, four-arm RCT.
Importance: While vitamin D supplementation and exercise are recommended for prevention of falls for older people, results regarding these 2 factors are contradictory.
Objective: To determine the effectiveness of targeted exercise training and vitamin D supplementation in reducing falls and injurious falls among older women.
Design, Setting, And Participants: A 2-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled vitamin D and open exercise trial conducted between April 2010 and March 2013 in Tampere, Finland.
Background: Fear of falling has been linked to activity restriction, functional decline, decreased quality of life and increased risk of falling. Factors that distinguish persons with a high concern about falling from those with low concern have not been systematically studied.
Objective: This study aimed to expose potential health-related, functional and psychosocial factors that correlate with fear of falling among independently living older women who had fallen in the past year.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the polymorphisms of the fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO, rs9939609:T>A) and the β2-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB2, rs1042714:Gln>Glu) are associated with weight loss in dieting obese premenopausal women and the association of these SNPs with body weight, body composition and distribution of fat mass.
Methods: 75 obese (BMI>30) premenopausal women participated in the intervention including a 3-month weight reduction period and a subsequent 9-month weight maintenance period. Weight and height were measured and BMI calculated.
Background: Calcium (Ca) is an essential nutrient for the human body. Despite lively research, there is uncertainty about Ca requirements in terms of desirable health outcomes including an upper intake level above which the potential for harm increases.
Objectives: The aim was to conduct a review to update requirements and desirable or harmful health effects of Ca on the current scientific evidence.
Purpose: The number of hip fractures among Finns over 50-years of age rose constantly between 1970 and 1997, but since then, there has been a nationwide decline in incidence of hip fractures. One possible explanation, although not the only one, for the declining fracture rates, could be improved bone mineral density (BMD). The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in femoral neck BMD between older Finnish women born about a decade apart.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study evaluated the training effects of an 18-month exercise intervention and subsequent 3.5-year follow-up on femoral neck structure in premenopausal women.
Methods: Of 98 women who participated in this randomized controlled study, 84 (39 trainees and 45 controls) completed the 18-month intervention.
This randomized, controlled trial evaluated the effects of exercise on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and fear of falling (FoF) among 149 home-dwelling older women. The 12-mo exercise program was intended to reduce the risk of falls and fractures. HRQoL was assessed by the RAND-36 Survey, and FoF, with a visual analog scale, at baseline, 12 mo, and 24 mo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury and injury-related death among older people. In addition to physical activity, vitamin D also may affect balance and neuromuscular function. Low serum 25-hydroksivitamin D level increases the risk of bone loss, falls and fractures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEstrogen action in bone is mediated mainly by estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1). Bone mineral content of the lumbar spine and left proximal femur and the femoral neck structure was measured with DXA, and the structure of the radius and tibia were assessed with pQCT in 75 premenopausal obese (BMI>30) women. The number of women in the ESR1 Pvu II genotype groups was 26 in TT, 37 in TC and 12 in CC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssociations between childhood obesity and adult bone traits were assessed among 62 obese premenopausal women, of which 12 had been obese since childhood (ObC), and 50 had gained excess weight in adulthood (ObA). Body composition and bone mineral content (BMC) of the total body, spine, and proximal femur were assessed with DXA. Total cross-sectional area and cortical (diaphyseal CoD) and trabecular (epiphyseal TrD) bone density of the radius and tibia were measured with pQCT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exercise is widely recommended to reduce osteoporosis, falls and related fragility fractures, but its effect on whole bone strength has remained inconclusive. The primary purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of long-term supervised exercise (> or =6 months) on estimates of lower-extremity bone strength from childhood to older age.
Methods: We searched four databases (PubMed, Sport Discus, Physical Education Index, and Embase) up to October 2009 and included 10 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effects of exercise training on whole bone strength.
Falls and fall-related injuries, such as fractures, are a growing problem among older adults, often causing longstanding pain, functional impairments, reduced quality of life and excess health-care costs and mortality. These problems have led to a variety of single component or multicomponent intervention strategies to prevent falls and subsequent injuries. The most effective physical therapy approach for the prevention of falls and fractures in community-dwelling older adults is regular multicomponent exercise; a combination of balance and strength training has shown the most success.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWeight loss is claimed to cause bone loss. This prospective 12-month study evaluated effects of 3-month group-based weight loss with VLED on body composition, bone mass and strength (DXA and pQCT), muscle performance and biomarkers of bone turnover. The assessments were done at baseline and at 3 and 12 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo forms of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) circulate in human blood, TRACP 5a derived from inflammatory macrophages and TRACP 5b derived from osteoclasts. We compared the clinical performance of the following TRACP immunoassays for monitoring alendronate treatment in postmenopausal women: 1) TRACP 5b activity using a selective pH; 2) TRACP 5b activity using a selective substrate; 3) Total TRACP activity; 4) Total TRACP protein amount; 5) TRACP 5a activity; 6) TRACP 5a protein amount. TRACP and other bone turnover markers were measured before the start of treatment and at 3 months.
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