[Modification of bone quality by extreme physical stress. Bone density measurements in high-performance athletes...

The treatment of osteoporosis is still controversial. Rehabilitation programs which stress strengthening exercises as well as impact loading activities increase the bone mass. On the other side activity level early in life has not been proven to correlate with increased bone mineral content later in life. Little is known on the influence of high performance sports on the bone density especially in athletes with high demands on weight bearing of the spine. In (n = 40) internationally top ranked high performance athletes of different disciplines (n = 28 weight-lifters, n = 6 sports-boxers and n = 6 bicycle-racers) bone density measurements of the lumbar spine and the left hip were performed. The measurements were carried out by dual-photonabsorptiometry (DEXA; QDR 2000, Siemens) and evaluated by an interactive software-programme (Hologic Inc.). The results were compared to the measurements of 21 age-matched male control individuals. In the high performance weight lifters there was an increase of bone density compared to the control individuals of 23% in the Ward's triangle (p < 0.01). The sports-boxers had an increase up to 17% (lumbar spine), 9% (hip) and 7% (Wards' triangle). In the third athletes group (Tour de France-bikers) BMD was decreased 10% in the lumbar spine, 14% in the hip and 17% in the Wards' triangle. Our results show that training programs stressing axial loads of the skeletal system may lead to an increase of BMD in the spine and the hip of young individuals. Other authors findings, that the BMD of endurance athletes may decrease, is confirmed. Nevertheless the bikers BMD-loss of 10 to 17% was surprisingly high.