Study sports in youth strengthens bones

Bones are constantly strengthened by sports in youth

03/26/2014

Anyone who does sports in their childhood and adolescence strengthens their bones apparently even into old age. This is the conclusion of researchers who have studied baseball players in a study. The positive effect also holds, when the sporting career has long since ended.

Baseball limb continued to grow larger and stronger decades later
People who do sports in their young years obviously benefit from this until old age. As a study shows, the baseball bones of the throwing arm of former baseball players even decades after the end of their sports career still much larger and stronger than that of the less used arm. The researchers write in the journal „Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America“, that still needs to be investigated, whether this also reduces the risk of fractures in old age, especially at osteoporosis-endangered bone sites.

Humeral bone in comparison
A total of 103 professional baseball players had examined the team around Stuart Warden of Indiana University in Indianapolis at different times of sporting career. Among them were active players, former players and those who had continued to throw balls even after the end of the professional career. For the investigation, the scientists measured the humerus of the limb and that of the other arm. Certain factors such as bone strength, density and mass were determined. The readings were compared with those of subjects who were not throwers.

Success still detectable 50 years after retirement
The background of the investigation was the fact that bones solidify due to stress and become larger and stronger. As expected, this was also evident in the athletes studied. Thus, the humerus of her respective limb was almost twice as strong as that of the other arm, he was also taller and had more mass. Even 50 years after the end of the career, about half of the bone gained by the sport and one third of the strength in the limb were still preserved. In contrast, the gain in bone mass was not measurable.

Lifelong benefit for bones
It also showed that those baseball players who remained active even after the end of their sporting careers, such as a trainer, had a lower bone mass loss and a bit more bone level maintenance. The researchers say: „Ultimately, current data show that physical activity during adolescence brings lifelong benefits to bone size and bone strength“, although the cessation of activity is associated with age-related changes in bone mass and structure.

Use Sport to lower the risk of osteoporosis
Other experts advise to sport to strengthen the bones. Last year, for example, the Federal Self-Help Association for Osteoporosis (BfO) announced that it was possible to significantly reduce the individual risk of osteoporosis by means of adapted nutrition and adequate exercise. Osteoporosis, also known as bone loss, is one of the most common bone diseases in elderly patients, where the bone density of those affected is steadily decreasing, threatening fractures even at low loads. According to the BfO moderate bones strengthen the muscles and also have a positive effect on the joints, the muscles and the cardiovascular system. (Sb)