title: Bone quality in the lumbar spine in high-performance athletes.
abstract: Little is known about the influence of high-performance training on the bone quality of the lumbar spine, in particular, the effects on bone mineral density (BMD) in athletes with high weight-bearing demands on the spine. Measurements were therefore performed in internationally top-ranked high-performance athletes of different disciplines (weight lifters, boxers, and endurance-cyclists). The measurements were carried out by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the results compared with the measurements of 21 age-matched male controls. The BMD of the high-performance weight lifters was greater than that of the controls by 24% (0.252 g/cm2) on the AP view by 23% (0.200 g/cm2) on the lateral view (P < 0.01), while difference in BMD between the boxers and the controls was +17% (0.174 g/cm2) on the AP view and +19% (0.174 g/cm2) on the lateral view. The BMD of the lumbar spine in all endurance cyclists was lower than that in the controls (AP view -10%, 0.105 g/cm2; lateral view -8%, 0.067 g/cm2; P > 0.05). The results show that training program stressing axial loads of the skeleton may lead to a significant increase of BMD in the lumbar spine of young individuals. Other authors' findings that the BMD of endurance athletes may decrease are confirmed. Nevertheless the 10% BMD loss of cyclists was surprisingly high.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sabo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernd
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pfeil
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reiter
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D001914:Boxing / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D013177:Sports; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000502:physiology; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology