Osteoporosis: Benefits of Physical Therapy

After we have seen all the pathophysiological evidence as to how osteoporosis begins and develops we arrive at a point to discover what are the options we have, to reverse it. Well honestly reversal or not depends how bad the situation is. If the bone is depleted completely its difficult physically for the person to do except therapy and of course nutrition and hormonal therapy. How does physical therapy help?
Medical researches all over the world across genetic pools, age, gender have given significant evidence of weight bearing exercises reducing bone resorption or bone remodelling. The major problem we face in osteoporosis is as we now know the continuous battle between bone mineral deposition and its removal to balance the calcium in the blood. Exercise that bear our weight or any tolerant weight with correct posture and body form helps tremendously in reversing the bone resorption effects. Its no wonder that when NASA sends astronauts to zero gravity they face a challenge to maintain bone mineral density if exposed to weightlessness for a long period of time continuously. No amount of good nutrition, hormonal balance is good enough if the proper exercise or physical stimulus to the bone isn't available to develop it.
I know you want to know how does gravity or bearing your own weight help osteoporosis when obesity can also threaten it? Well, remember that a child in his/ her growing years shoots up like an unkept lawn grass before you even realise it, just like grandma always says to grow up you must go out and play. The primary reason bones develop on a stimulus of the growth hormone in childhood is because it is complemented by physical stimulus to the bone cells to deposit more calcium to develop it inorder to sustain the physical demand on it. Unless there is a demand in the body there will never be a supply and that's a GIVEN. So the body or lets say the bone cells respond to the stimulus (hormonal and physical) of exercise that puts a demand over bearing weight. The stimulus is a message to our body for strength demand so the bones quickly respond in slowing the resorption or remodelling of the bones and work towards bone mineral deposition or modelling. If you ask a simple question as how on earth would the bones know if they need to grow or not ? the answer would be as simple as the baby that cries gets his milk. Our body would cry for strength and therby our bones would fulfill it. Now this fulfillment of bone modelling on a stimulus upon exercise can be met if the nutrition is fine otherwise the body ends up in a viscious cycle of malnourishment.
What are the actual benefits of weight bearing exercises on osteoporosis other than a mere stimulus you may ask? well it builds good strength in the musculation which enhances the overall strength of our body and also our agility and body posture and that is what we need ultimately to avoid a trip and fall fracture.
In my next post I will write on the various exercise you can do that will send your bones the stimulus to slow your bone remodelling.

Wish you wellness,
Neha
R.D
Related articles -
http://wellnessandi.blogspot.com/2009/08/osteoporosis-from-where-does-this.html
http://wellnessandi.blogspot.com/2009/08/osteoporosis-metabolic-cause-and.html