Effects of Yoga on Bone Metabolism in Premenopausal Women

Effects of an 8-month Yoga Intervention on Bone Metabolism in Healthy Middle-aged Premenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Study

This study examined the effects of 8 months of Yoga training on bone density and bone turnover markers in premenopausal women, ages 35-50 years. The style of Yoga used was power Yoga that involved postures with a jumping component. The investigators hypothesized that the Yoga intervention would result in beneficial improvements in bone turnover markers, by increasing the bone formation marker and decreasing the bone resorption marker.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Osteoporosis; Bone Health
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Yoga Group

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 47
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oklahoma
    • Norman, Oklahoma, United States, 73019
      • Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 35 years to 50 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• participants had not been engaged in resistance training or in Yoga exercise for at least 12 months prior to the study
• did not have chronic back or joint problems or cardiovascular disease
• not taking antihypertensive drugs or any medication that affects bone density
• not taking hormonal contraception
• they self-reported having regular menstrual cycles.

Exclusion Criteria:

• body weight more than 300 pounds

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Yoga group; 8 months of progressive Yoga training	Other: Yoga Group; 8 months of Yoga training
No Intervention: Control group; No training, just pre and post testing

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in bone mineral density from baseline to 8 months		pre and post 8 months training
change in bone turnover markers		pre and post 8 month intervention
change in tibia bone characteristics	changes in volumetric bone mineral density and bone strength of the non-dominant tibia assessed by peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT)	pre and post 8 month intervention
Changes in muscular strength	Isotonic 1 repetition maximum (1RM) for 4 lower body and 2 upper body resistance exercises	pre and post 9 month intervention
Change in arterial compliance	Arterial compliance of the large and small arteries was assessed using Pulse Contour analysis.	pre and post 8 month interventon
Change in Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-I) and Insulin-like Growth Factor BP3 (IGFBP3)		pre and post 8 month intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Daily Calcium intake	Calcium intake is a potential confounding variable. Participants were encouraged to increase their calcium intakes if found to be low before the intervention began.	pre and post 8 month intervention
Menstrual History	This information was used to monitor menstrual characteristics to ensure they were still premenopausal at the post test.	pre and post 8 month intervention
Dietary intake	Three day dietary logs were recorded by participants before the exercise intervention. They were analyzed for caloric intake and nutrient composition using the Diet Analysis Plus 9 software.	At baseline at the same time as other outcomes, about 2 weeks before the beginning of the yoga training
Change in physical activity levels	Physical activity levels estimated by the bone-specific physical activity (PA) questionnaire to monitor their PA outside of the intervention	pre and post 8 month intervention
Change in body composition		pre and post 8 month intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Oklahoma
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Debra A Bemben, PhD, Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Phoosuwan M, Kritpet T, Yuktanandana P. The effects of weight bearing yoga training on the bone resorption markers of the postmenopausal women. J Med Assoc Thai. 2009 Sep;92 Suppl5:S102-8.
• Chan K, Qin L, Lau M, Woo J, Au S, Choy W, Lee K, Lee S. A randomized, prospective study of the effects of Tai Chi Chun exercise on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004 May;85(5):717-22. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2003.08.091.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2010
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 9, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 13, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): June 16, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): June 16, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 13, 2014
• Last Verified: June 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Yoga; Bone mineral density; Bone turnover markers; Bone strength
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Metabolic Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Bone Diseases; Bone Diseases, Metabolic; Osteoporosis
• Other Study ID Numbers: OUYogaStudy