The role of physical activity in early adulthood and middle-age on bone health after menopause in epidemiological population from Silesia Osteo Active Study

Quantitative Ultrasound Examination (QUS) of the Calcaneus in Long-Term Martial Arts Training on the Example of Long-Time Practitioners of Okinawa Kobudo/Karate Shorin-Ryu

Quantitative research of bone tissue related to physical activity (PA) and sport has a preventive dimension. Increasing the parameters of bone tissue strength, especially reaching the maximum value of peak bone strength in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood due to practicing sports can contribute to maintaining bone health throughout life. Practicing martial arts (tai chi, traditional karate, judo, and boxing) can effectively improve the quality of bone and reduce the risk of falls and fractures. The study aimed to evaluate the calcaneus bones among Okinawa Kobudo/Karate Shorin-Ryu practitioners using the quantitative ultrasound method as an indicator for assessing bone fracture risk. Forty-four adult martial arts practitioners with a mean age of 36.4 participated in this study. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) with a portable Bone Ultrasonometer was used in this study. Speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and the stiffness index (SI) were measured. Subjects were assigned to two groups of black and color belts, according to the advancement in Kobudo/karate practice. The measurements of the SI, BUA, SOS, T-score, and Z-score were significantly higher in subjects from the advanced, long-term practice (black belts) (p < 0.05). The long-term martial arts training in traditional karate and Kobudo significantly impacts the parameters of the calcaneus quantitative ultrasound measurements. Significantly higher bone density was observed among the black belt holders. Long-term practice subjects achieved results far beyond the norm for their age groups. Further studies using non-invasive methods of bone quantification are needed to determine the specific conditions for preventing osteoporosis through physical activity, sports, and martial arts, particularly the duration of the activity, the magnitude of loads, and other related factors.

Five-year fracture risk assessment in postmenopausal women, using both the POL-RISK calculator and the Garvan nomogram: the Silesia Osteo Active Study

The study project was designed to assess the concordance of clinical results in the assessment of 5-year fracture risk of any fracture, carried out by two methods: the Garvan algorithm and the POL-RISK model. The study group included 389 postmenopausal women of Caucasian race. The concordance of results, obtained by those two models, turned out to be moderate, and the threshold for high fracture risk group was 11% in the POL-RISK model.

PURPOSE

The goal of the study was to evaluate the concordance of results in fracture risk assessments between the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator and POL-RISK, a new Polish algorithm, and to define an optimal threshold for intervention.

METHODS

The study was a part of the Silesia Osteo Active Study. A group of 389 postmenopausal women, aged 65.2±6.9 years (mean ± SD), was randomly selected from the general population of Zabrze, Poland. All the participants had bone densitometry examination to assess the bone mineral density of the femoral neck. The mean femoral neck T-score was (-0.99) ± 1.05 SD. 6.4% of the women revealed osteoporosis. Five-year risk of any fracture was assessed, using the Garvan and POL-RISK calculators. The performance of each model was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

RESULTS

The median 5-year risk of any fracture was 7% (range 1-54%) in the Garvan model and 8.8% (range 1.1-45.5%) in the POL-RISK algorithm. There was a significant correlation between the results obtained by both methods (r=0.6, p<0.005). For the thresholds, assumed at 8% and 13% (according to recommendation derived from Garvan tool), the rates of concordance of results between both calculators were 76% and 84%, respectively. In ROC analysis for the POL-RISK method, performed with reference to the Garvan method at two different cut-offs, assumed to be high fracture risk indicators (8% and 13%), the AUC values were 0.865 and 0.884, respectively. The optimal threshold for high fracture risk in the POL-RISK algorithm was ≥ 11%, which yielded a sensitivity of 0.94 and a specificity of 0.71.

CONCLUSION

The obtained data demonstrate a moderate concordance of results between the POL-RISK algorithm and the Garvan model, illustrated by low and high fracture risk cut-offs, established in ROC analysis. In addition, the threshold of 11% in the POL-RISK method was the optimal level for "high risk".

Salivary Content Might be Associated With Skeletal Status in Postmenopausal Women: SilesiaOsteoActive Study Results

AIM

The aim of the study was to investigate whether salivary mineral content may be associated with bone status in women after menopause.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study group consisted of 125 postmenopausal women aged 64.3 ± 6.9 yr, derived from the epidemiological SilesiaOsteoActive Study. All participants underwent hip and spine bone densitometry using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, dental examination, and saliva content analysis. Data for salivary pH, copper, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc concentrations were evaluated.

RESULTS

Mean femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) was 0.739 ± 0.118 g/cm², total hip BMD 0.891 ± 0.14 g/cm², and spine BMD 0.868 ± 0.14 g/cm². Salivary pH was significantly lower in women with spinal osteoporosis defined as T-score below -2.5, compared to individuals with normal BMD (pH: 6.65 ± 0.67 vs 6.96 ± 0.58, p < 0.05). There was a significant though weak inverse correlation between Ca concentration in saliva and femoral neck BMD (r = -0.23, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

High salivary calcium content and low salivary pH may be indicative of low hip and decreased spine BMD, respectively. These associations may reflect demineralization process (calcium redistribution) influencing bone, and a negative effect of acidity on mineral tissues, although causal pathway remains not clear.