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Research team leader Associate Dean of Kinesiology Bob Faulkner, left, reviews details of the study with team member Kinesiology Assoc. Prof. Adam Baxter-Jones. |
By Kristina Bergen
SPARK Writer
University of Saskatchewan researchers are trying to prevent later-life osteoporosis by tracking bone mass development from childhood to early adulthood - work that will result in the most comprehensive data in the world on bone mineral accrual from childhood to adult years.
In Canada, the incidence of osteoporosis is growing dramatically. Trends from the past three decades suggest that by 2006, osteoporosis-related fractures will increase by 73 per cent, largely due to an aging population.
Insufficient physical activity and inadequate dietary intake of calcium and other essential nutrients also contribute to bone loss, says U of S Kinesiology Professor Bob Faulkner.
Faulkner has just received $233,000 over three years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to identify the age when young bones attain their maximum mineral accrual.
"Identifying the age when peak bone mass occurs is important, as we will then know more precisely the age range when we have a window of opportunity to enhance bone mineral accrual," he says.
This study is a follow-up to the 1991 U of S Pediatric Bone Mineral Accrual Study involving 197 teens and young adults. Clinicians and researchers worldwide use results from the first study as reference material for evaluating pediatric bone density.
Team members include Adam Baxter-Jones (Kinesiology), Donald Bailey (Kinesiology), Susan Whiting (Pharmacy and Nutrition), Kent Kowalski (Kinesiology), and Edyta Dudzic (Medical Imaging).
Most bone mass research tries to find a cure for osteoporosis after the fact. But Faulkner's hypothesis is that building peak bone mass in teenagers and young adults reduces the risk of age-related fractures.
"As soon as the age (of peak bone mass) is known, we can develop and recommend intervening strategies to enhance peak bone mass and subsequently reduce the risk of osteoporosis," he says.
More than 25 per cent of an adult's total bone mass is built up during the year before and the year after the largest growth spurt in adolescence. In fact, a woman will accumulate the same amount of bone in two years of adolescent peak bone growth as she will lose in all of her post-menopausal years, says Bailey.
The team postulates that building peak bone mass early in life will slow the rate of bone decay.
"Since bone loss is a normal consequence of aging, those who acquire a greater bone mass during the first two decades of life should be at reduced risk for later-life skeletal problems such as osteoporosis," said Faulkner.
"Everyone loses bone with age, but an individual with a high peak bone mass will have more bone to lose before reaching a fracture threshold," he says.
Once the age of peak bone mass is established, Faulkner's team will study how calcium intake, nutrition and physical activity in childhood and adolescence affect bone health and bone mass in adulthood.
The team will continue the study with participants from the original group, who are now in their mid-teens to late-20s. Researchers have contacted 173 people from the initial study, and want to reach the remaining 24.
"Unfortunately, we've lost track of some people," says Bailey. "But we want to find as many of the original participants as possible."
Anyone who participated in the original study is invited to contact the College of Kinesiology at 966-6465 or 966-6466.
The SPARK (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge) Program is run out of Research Communications in the Office of the Vice-President Research.
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