REVIEW - Exercise for bone health: rationale and prescription

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From Current Opinion in Rheumatology

Exercise for Bone Health: Rationale and Prescription

Pascale Schwab; Scalapino

Posted: 02/10/2011; Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2011;23(2):137-141.

Abstract

Purpose of review Patients frequently inquire about exercise as a

means to improve bone strength and reduce osteoporotic fracture.

Understanding the biologic mechanisms and the available clinical

evidence supporting the role of exercise in bone health is the key to

an educated discussion.

Recent findings Exercise downregulates sclerostin expression by the

osteocyte favoring osteoblastogenesis. These changes are enhanced by

dynamic cyclical load with rest periods and may be promoted by

low-amplitude high-frequency stimuli. In the prepubertal years,

exercise results in periosteal gains, whereas exercise later in life

maintains bone mass, reduces falls and probably associated fractures,

and improves quality-of-life measures.

Summary Future studies should examine the effect of exercise on bone

strength and determine the minimum quantity and frequency and the

exercise type most effective to reduce osteoporotic fractures.

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Read the entire article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/736929

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