Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Maintenance of muscle strength may counteract weight-loss-related postmenopausal bone loss—a population-based approach

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Osteoporosis International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Weight loss significantly increases postmenopausal bone loss, but the effects of muscle strength change on weight-loss-associated bone loss remain unclear. The study population, 587 peri- and postmenopausal women, was a random sample of the original Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention Study (OSTPRE) study cohort (n=14,220) in Kuopio, Finland. Bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) was measured with dual x-ray absorptiometry, and grip strength was measured with a pneumatic squeeze dynamometer at baseline in 1989–1991 and at the 10-year follow-up in 1999–2001.

Methods

Women were divided into three groups according to change in age-grouped grip-strength quartile in both of the measurements: "decreased" (n=133), "maintained" (n=300), and "improved" (n=154). In addition, the study sample was divided into two groups according to weight change during the follow-up: weight losers (n=156) and weight gainers (n=431).

Results

There were no differences in the change status of grip (muscle) strength between the weight loss and weight gain groups (p>0.500, Pearson chi-square test). Women losing weight during the follow-up and within the improved grip-strength-change group had a significantly lower bone loss rate compared with those in the maintained and decreased grip-strength-change groups (p<0.01 in comparison to the decreased group). This was in contrast to women who gained weight during the follow-up (not significant between any grip-strength-change groups). Furthermore, women who lost body weight and were in the improved grip-strength-change group had a bone loss rate comparable with that of the women who gained body weight (not significant). This was in contrast to the maintained (p<0.05 between weight losers versus gainers in LS) and decreased grip-strength-change groups (p<0.01 weight losers versus gainers in LS and FN).

Conclusion

The present study suggests that maintaining muscle strength may counteract postmenopausal bone loss related to weight loss. Accordingly, exercise that improves muscle strength may be encouraged for postmenopausal women with weight loss intentions for other health reasons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hansen MA, Overgaard K, Riis BJ, Christiansen C (1991) Role of peak bone mass and bone loss in postmenopausal osteoporosis: 12-year study. BMJ 303:961–964

    Google Scholar 

  2. Pouilles JM, Tremollieres F, Ribot C (1993) The effects of menopause on longitudinal bone loss from the spine. Calcif Tissue Int 52:340–343

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kröger H, Tuppurainen M, Honkanen R, Alhava E, Saarikoski S (1994) Bone mineral density and risk factors for osteoporosis-a population based study of 1,600 perimenopausal women. Calcif Tissue Int 55:1–7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ensrud KE, Palermo L, Black DM, Cauley J, Jergas M, Orwoll ES, Nevitt MC, Fox KM, Cummings SR (1995) Hip and calcaneal bone loss increase with advancing age: longitudinal results from the study of osteoporotic fractures. J Bone Miner Res 10:1778–1787

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Prior JC (1998) Perimenopause: the complex endocrinology of the menopausal transition. Endoc Res 19(4):397–428

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sirola J, Kröger H, Honkanen R, Jurvelin JS, Sandini L, Tuppurainen M, Saarikoski S (2003) Factors affecting bone loss around menopause in women without HRT: a prospective population based cohort study. Maturitas 45:159–167

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Philips SK, Rook KM, Siddle NC, Bruce SA, Woledge RC (1993) Muscle weakness in women occurs at an earlier age than in men, but strength is preserved by hormone replacement therapy. Clin Sci 84:95–98

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Samson MM, Meeuwsen IBAE, Crowe A, Dessens JAG, Duursma SA, Veerhaar HJJ (2000) Relationships between physical performance measures, age, height and weight in healthy adults. Age Aging 29:235–242

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lindsay R (1992) The growing problem of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis Int 2:267–268

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Cooper C, Campion G, Melton LJ (1992) Hip fractures in the elderly: a worldwide projection. Osteoporos Int 2:285–289

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cooper C, Melton LJ III (1996) Magnitude and impact of osteoporosis and fractures. In: Marcus R, Feldman D, Kelsey J (eds) Osteoporosis. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 419–431

  12. Burger H, de Laet CE, van Daele PL, Weel AE, Witteman JC, Hofman A, Pols HA (1998) Risk factors for increased bone loss in an elderly population: the Rotterdam Study. Am J Epidemiol 147:871–879

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hannan MT, Felson DT, Dawson-Hughes B, Tucker KL, Cupples LA, Wilson PW, Kiel DP (2000) Risk factors for longitudinal bone loss in elderly men and women: the Framingham osteoporosis study. J Bone Miner Res 15:710–720

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sirola J, Kröger H, Honkanen R, Sandini L, Tuppurainen M, Jurvelin JS, Saarikoski S (2003) Risk factors associated with peri- and postmenopausal bone loss—does HRT prevent weight loss-related bone loss? Osteoporosis Int 14:27–33

    Google Scholar 

  15. Huopio J, Kröger H, Honkanen R, Saarikoski S, Alhava E (2000) Risk factors for perimenopausal fractures: a prospective study. Osteoporos Int 11(3):219–227

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Brot C, Jensen LB, Sorensen OH (1997) Bone mass and risk factors for bone loss in perimenopausal Danish women. J Intern Med 242(6):505–511

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Nguyen TV, Sambrook PN, Eisman JA (1998) Bone loss, physical activity, and weight change in elderly women: the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study. J Bone Miner Res 13:1458–1460

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Wallace BA, Cumming RG (2000) Systematic review of randomized trials of the effect of exercise on bone mass in pre- and postmenopausal women. Calcif Tissue Int 67:10–18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sirola J, Tuppurainen M, Honkanen R, Jurvelin JS, Kröger H (2005) Associations between grip strength change and axial postmenopausal bone loss—a 10-year population-based follow-up study. Osteoporos Int 16(12):1841–1848

    Google Scholar 

  20. Albrand G, Munoz F, Sornay-Rendu E, Duboeuf F, Delmas PD (2003) Independent predictors of all osteoporosis-related fractures in healthy postmenopausal women: the OFELY study. Bone 32:78–85

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Honkanen R, Tuppurainen M, Alhava E, Saarikoski S (1991) Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention Study. Baseline postal inquiry in 1989. Publications of the University of Kuopio, Community Health, Statistics and Reviews 3/1991

  22. WHO Scientific Group (1996) Research on the menopause in the 1990s: report of a WHO Scientific Group. WHO Technical Report Series, no. 866. World Health Organisation, Geneva, pp 1–79

  23. Sirola J, Rikkonen T, Kröger H, Honkanen R, Tuppurainen M, Airaksinen O, Saarikoski S (2004) Factors related to postmenopausal muscle performance: a cross-sectional population-based study. Eur J Appl Physiol 93:102–107

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kröger H, Heikkinen J, Laitinen K, Kotaniemi A (1992) Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in normal women: a cross-sectional study of 717 Finnish volunteers. Osteoporos Int 2(3):135–140

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Komulainen MH, Kröger H, Tuppurainen MT, Heikkinen A-M, Alhava E, Honkanen R, Saarikoski S (1998) HRT and vit D in prevention of non-vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women; a 5 year randomised trial. Maturitas 31:45–54

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Yoshimura N, Hashimoto T, Morioka S, Sakata K, Kasamatsu T, Cooper C (1998) Determinants of bone loss in a rural Japanese community, the Taiji Study. Osteoporosis Int 8(6):604–610

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Nelson LR, Bulun SE (2001) Estrogen production and action. J Am Acad Dermatol 5(Suppl 3):116–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Yamauchi M, Sugimoto T, Yamaguchi T, Nakaoka D, Kanzawa M, Yano S, Ozuru R, Sugishita T, Chihara K (2001) Plasma leptin concentrations are associated with bone mineral density and the presence of vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women. Clin Endocrinol 55(3):341–347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Blain H, Vuillemin A, Guillemin F, Durant R, Hanesse B, de Talance N, Doucet B, Jeandel C (2002) Serum leptin level is a predictor of bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 87(3):1030–1035

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Bolotin HH (1998) A new perspective on the causal influence of soft tissue composition on DXA-measured in vivo bone mineral density. J Bone Miner Res 13:1739–1746

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Bolotin HH, Sievänen H, Grashuis JL, Kuiper JW, Jarvinen TL (2001) Inaccuracies inherent in patient-specific dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry bone mineral density measurements: comprehensive phantom-based evaluation. J Bone Miner Res 16:417–426

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Blake GM, Herd RJ, Patel R, Fogelman I (2000) The effect of weight change on total body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: results from a clinical trial. Osteoporos Int 11:832–839

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Asikainen T-M, Kukkonen-Harjula K, Miilupalo S (2004) Exercise for health for early postmenopausal women-a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Sports Med 34(11):753–778

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Blain H, Vuillemin A, Teissier A, Hanesse B, Guillemin F, Jeandel C (2001) Influence of muscle strength and body weight and composition on regional bone mineral density in healthy women aged 60 and older. Gerontology 47(4):207–212

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This study was financially supported by the Finnish Medical Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone and Cartilage Research Unit (BCRU), University of Kuopio, Mediteknia Building, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    J. Sirola, T. Rikkonen, M. Tuppurainen, R. Honkanen, J. S. Jurvelin & H. Kröger

  2. Kuopio University Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kuopio, Finland

    M. Tuppurainen

  3. Kuopio University Hospital, Department of Clinical Physiology & Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio, Finland

    J. S. Jurvelin

  4. Kuopio University Hospital, Department of Surgery, Kuopio, Finland

    H. Kröger

  5. Mikkeli Central Hospital, Department of Surgery, Mikkeli, Finland

    J. Sirola

Authors
  1. J. Sirola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Rikkonen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Tuppurainen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. Honkanen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. S. Jurvelin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. H. Kröger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Sirola.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sirola, J., Rikkonen, T., Tuppurainen, M. et al. Maintenance of muscle strength may counteract weight-loss-related postmenopausal bone loss—a population-based approach. Osteoporos Int 17, 775–782 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-005-0054-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-005-0054-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation