| A commonly used device to identify risk for a stress injury to bone, and to monitor bone status in an injured population is the DEXA Scan, which determines BMD. The DEXA scan however, is an inappropriate means to monitor the changes in bone status in an young active population, due to the relatively short convalescence period following a stress injury, the small absolute change in BMD and the precision of the DEXA scan. The use of Qualitative Ultrasound (QUS) and biochemical markers of bone turnover represent alternative methods to assess bone, which may be more sensitive to acute changes and adaptations within the bone itself. The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in measures of QUS and biochemical markers in females, with participation in a running training program. For this study 40 females between the 30–50 years were compared with age and sex matched controls that maintained a constant level of activity throughout the experimental period. During participation in the 20-week training program for the “Charlottesville 10-Miler”, the subjects were assessed for levels of biochemical markers, prior to and prospectively each 5 weeks of the training period. Pre- and post QUS measurements were also performed. Additionally, subjects in the training group were compared according to their pre-training activity level. The results indicated no significant difference in measures of pyridinoline (PYD) in the comparison or training group. However there was a statistically significant correlation between bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and participation in the training program (r = 0.236; p < 0.01) for the subjects in the training group. These finding suggest an increase in bone formation with no change in bone resorption during the experimental period indicating an improvement in bone health with the participation in the training program. This study was able to identify this change over a relatively short period with the use of biochemical markers, in contrast to the relative stable QUS measures. |
