How Does Early Age Life Style Affect Bone Strength and General Health Parameters at Middle Age?

November 25, 2007 updated by: Hadassah Medical Organization

How Does Early Age Life Style Affect Bone Strength and General Health at Middle Age? Twenty-Five Year Follow-up Health Status Comparison of a Sedentary Versus Extremely Physically Active Population From an Early Age

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of vigorous physical activity versus extremely sedentary life style during young age on the bone mineral density and general health in later life.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Bone strength and peak bone mass are preliminary determined by genetic factors. Life style, especially exercise, is also considered to have an important effect on bone strength. Bone has the ability to strengthen itself according to Wolff's Law. When bone is subjected to strains and/or strain rates higher than the usual, it responds by remodeling, strengthening its architecture. The ability is greatest in young individuals and decreases with age. In the elderly this ability is largely non-existent and bone mass is lost. Whether this loss leads to osteoporosis is largely a function of the peak bone mass achieved before the decline. 11% of males and 44 % of females over 50 suffer from osteoporosis in later life. To what extent vigorous exercising beginning at a young age can increase bone strength is not known.

The purpose of the proposed research is to quantify the effect of life style on bone strength and general health parameters by comparing two male populations, one sedentary and the other that has done demanding physical training: (1) Elite infantry recruits who were inducted into the I.D.F. in Feb 1983, did their basic training at Sanur and were part of the 1983 stress fracture project who completed three years of elite infantry service and continued to serve as combat soldiers in the reserves; (2) Yeshiva students who had profiles of 82 or 97 and received deferment from their military service in 1983 and since then have continued their studies and never served in the army.

50 subjects will be reviewed in each group. Measurements of weight, height, waist and abdominal girth, resting pulse and blood pressure will be made. The brachial/ankle blood pressure index will be recorded. MRI of the right knee to study potential degenerate changes will be done using a 1.5 Tesla General Electric Signa MR scanner. Quantitative Computed Tomography (QCT), one of the most popular and effective methods utilized for osteoporosis screening, will be performed to determine volumetric BMD, BMC, bone geometric properties and strength indexes of the tibia and lumbar spine.

Comparisons:

Group I: 50 males (age 41-45), former elite Israeli infantry soldiers, selected randomly from those recruits who did their infantry basic training at Sanur in Feb. 1983 (all profiled 82 or 97) and completed their military service as combat soldiers will be compared to:

Group II: 50 age-, profile- and ethnically-matched Israeli citizens whose military service was deferred in 1983 because of Torah studies and who did not do army service and were not involved in any kind of physical training.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

100

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

      • Jerusalem, Israel
        • Recruiting
        • Hadassah Medical Organization
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Prof. Charles Milgrom, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

40 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Israeli males who were 17-22 years-old and received a military profile of either 82 or 97 in 1983

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Israeli military profile 82 or 97 at age 17-22

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Israeli military profile less than 82 at age 17-22
  • Former soldiers with shrapnel injuries will be excluded from MRI studies

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Prof. Charles Milgrom, MD, Hadassah Medical Organization

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2007

Study Completion (Anticipated)

November 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 26, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 26, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

December 28, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 27, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 25, 2007

Last Verified

November 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 12-17.02.06-HMO-CTIL

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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