Exercise gurus have long touted fitness as a panacea for many ills. But research now indicates that a back-strengthening exercise program may provide long-lasting protection against spinal fractures in women at risk for osteoporosis.
This is good news for women in the wake of recent warnings against hormone-replacement therapy.
A Mayo Clinic study published in the June edition of BONE: Official Journal of the International Bone and Mineral Society offers strong evidence that, even without hormone therapy, a back-extension exercise program can reduce the risk of vertebral fractures in elderly women, says the study’s lead author Dr. Mehrsheed Sinaki, a physical-medicine specialist.
"Exercise requires more effort than taking a pill, so getting patients to comply with a program is more difficult," Sinaki says. "However, because the benefits of exercise continue even after the program is completed, perhaps this should lead us to consider more short-term, intensive exercise programs that will be easier to maintain."

Bone crusher
Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue leading to increased fragility and risk of fracture, affects 1.4-million Canadians. One in four women and one in eight men over the age of 50 suffer with the condition. More women die each year as a result of osteoporotic fractures than from breast and ovarian cancer combined.
Many may not know it since this disease, called the "silent thief," occurs without symptoms until the day a bone breaks suddenly and often unexpectedly.
It levies a high cost on the health-care system. Treating the disease and resulting fractures is estimated to cost Canadians $1.3-billion a year and projections indicate that over the next quarter century the country will spend some $32.5-billion treating osteoporotic fractures.

The male factor
Although traditionally considered a women’s disease, affecting twice as many women as men, new evidence from the U.S. indicates that men are at higher risk than previously believed.
A major study of more than 600 men in northern California found that a third of them had osteoporosis, but only a few had been screened or treated for it.
"This is really a silent problem," says Dr. Arthur Swislocki, lead author of the study. "Men’s health seems to focus on the prostate, blood pressure and cholesterol – issues other than bones."
Until recently, research on the condition virtually ignored men and education was targeted to postmenopausal women with a focus on the importance of estrogen.
"But more men are likely to develop a hip fracture than to suffer prostate cancer," says Lynn Chard-Ptrinjak, spokesperson for the U.S. National Osteoporosis Foundation in Washington D.C. This is a serious problem, she adds, since men have a higher mortality rate following hip fractures than women.
Scientists are just beginning to explore the reasons for osteoporosis developing in men. In women, rapid bone loss is generally seen when hormone levels drop after menopause. Men don’t suffer this quick decline in hormones.
By the age of 65 or 70, men and women lose bone mass at the same rate as the body’s ability to absorb calcium – an essential nutrient for bone health – declines. Thus, the risk for men rises with advancing age. However, the California study found the disease in men in their early 50s.
Researchers hope to learn more about how testosterone levels, smoking, alcohol and other factors predispose men to the disease from an ambitious long-term National Institutes of Health study looking at more than 6,000 American men.

Osteoporosis Month
November is osteoporosis month and events across the country will focus attention on this serious later-life condition.    
Sponsored by Manulife Financial, Bone China Teas are held across the country. Guests enjoy an elegant tradition while increasing their awareness and sharing information about this debilitating disease, learning how to care for their bones. They may also make a donation to the Osteoporosis Society of Canada. The society offers information kits on hosting these teas, including sample invitations, recipes and information about the disease. These are available by calling 800-463-6842.
The afternoon teas are scheduled this month in Niagara-on-the-Lake (Nov. 3 at St. Vincent de Paul Parish Hall); Toronto (Nov. 6 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel); and in Regina (Nov. 17 at the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts).
Healthy Bones: The Daughter/Mother Story is a forum being offered in a number of locations, inviting mothers and daughters to attend together to learn the latest news about osteoporosis. Forums are scheduled in Toronto (Nov. 12, 7-9 p.m. in the grand ballroom of the Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre) with guest speaker Dr. Allya Khan, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) of the Osteoporosis Society of Canada; Fredericton, N.B. (Nov. 13, 7-9 p.m. at the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, Saint John Room) with speaker Dr. Stephanie Kaiser, an endocrinologist, rheumatologist and also a member of the society’s SAC; and Winnipeg (Nov. 20, 7-9 p.m. at the Franco Manitobain Cultural Centre) with a panel of experts including a pharmacist, fitness consultant and dietitian.
In Hamilton, the new Osteoporosis Society chapter will be launched with a public-education forum at the Royal Botanical Gardens , Nov. 26, 7-9 p.m.
For information on any of these or other related events and to learn more about osteoporosis, call the society at 800-463-6842