High-Impact Exercise May Help Lower the Risk of Osteoporosis in Men
Men who regularly take part in high-impact exercises are at a lower risk of getting osteoporosis as the activity helps in strengthening bones, new study suggests.
Osteoporosis has always been associated with women as they are more prone to getting it. However, more men seem to be afflicted by the disease and this is mainly blamed on lack of regular physical exercises, poor nutrition, as well as bad lifestyle choices such as excessive smoking and drinking of alcohol.
According Pamela Hinton, study author and associate professor in the Human Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia, there is new evidence that high-impact physical activities such as jogging, playing tennis, running can help lower the risk of getting the disease.
Osteoporosis is a disease that occurs when the bone density subsides meaning the bones become weaker and are at a higher risk of easily fracturing or breaking in case of a fall. This happens when the bone tissue degrade overtime and is most common among senior citizens.
Latest statistics show that 20-25% of fractures caused by osteoporosis affect the hip section in men, and the mortality rate within the first year due to the fracture is about 20%. The lifetime risk from a fracture caused by the bone disease in men aged over 50 years is 27% which is higher than the residual lifetime risk from prostate cancer (11.3%).
Hinton and her team at the department of exercise physiology and nutrition at the University of Missouri-Columbia recently studied a group of men to understand the relationship between bone density and physical activities. The study focused on 203 men aged between 30 and 65 years, who took part in different type of physical activities that included jogging, running, playing sports such as tennis, and other high-impact exercises.
Older men are usually not as active as young adult and teens when it comes to high-impact exercises. In fact, there is a school of thought that says such kinds of exercises put older men at a higher risk of fracturing their already weak bones.
During the analysis, Hinton and her team discovered that high-impact activities such as jogging helped minimize bone-thinning which is symptomatic with osteoporosis and also increases bone density.
The report which is contained in American journal of Men’s Health also states that men who during their early years more specifically teen age had higher bone density even later in their life.
The conclusion drawn by Pamela Hinton and her colleagues from the University is that it is never too late to engage in physical activities, and focus should be given to high-impact workouts.