Tai Chi as an exercise to prevent osteoporosis (part 6)
The studies carried out into the impact of Tai Chi on bone mineral density loss as described in the Wayne et al review suggest that people who underwent 12 months of Tai Chi had a decreased rate of bone loss in comparison to non-active people. But how does this compare with people who partake in more conventional exercises in the fight against osteoporosis such as walking or other load bearing exercises?
It was found that the reduction of bone mass in people taking exercise in the form of Tai Chi was very similar to that seen in people who walk regularly as a form of exercise. in people who walk the reduction in loss of bone mass is around 1%. Again the similarity between the two forms of exercises reported in the paper needs to be took with a pinch of caution as there are no direct studies that compare walking with Tai Chi, and the methods used to measure the rates of bone loss were different. Studies on low impact training has shown that different parts of the skeleton may be affected differently by exercise. It was found that the reduction in BMD loss in the spine could be as much as 3% in the cortical in comparison to the 1% found in the trabecular of the spine. it would be interesting to see if these results are repeated when looking at results from Tai Chi users in the future.
It has been recommended by Wayne et al that any further studies that look into the effect of Tai Chi as an exercise to be used to investigate losses in bone mass/density should use QCT methods to better understand hoe Tai Chi may impact bone quality and morphology, and to better understand any relationships between bone density compartmentalisation and the risk of fractures.
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