Beneficial effect of etidronate on bone loss after cessation of exercise in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether etidronate could prevent or restore bone loss after cessation of exercise in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.


METHODS
Thirty-five postmenopausal osteoporotic women were studied. Exercise consisted of daily brisk walking and gymnastic training. The changes in the lumbar bone mineral density measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry were assessed.


RESULTS
One or two years of exercise increased the bone mineral density from the baseline. One year of cessation of exercise after 1 yr of exercise resulted in the loss of the bone mineral density gained through exercise. Two years of cyclical etidronate treatment from year 2 sustained the bone mineral density during 2 yr of cessation of exercise in the preventative etidronate treatment group and completely restored the loss of bone mineral density after 1 yr of cessation of exercise in the therapeutic etidronate treatment group.


CONCLUSIONS
Cyclical etidronate treatment, when exercise is discontinued, seems to be beneficial for the prevention or restoration of bone loss after cessation of exercise in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Although the present study has a small sample size, the results may be interesting, especially because they raise additional questions that could stimulate further research.
Iwamoto
Jun
J
Department of Sports Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Takeda
Tsuyoshi
T
Ichimura
Shoichi
S
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D012968:Etidronic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000188:drug therapy*
D012968:Etidronic Acid