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Lance Lanyon

Publications and source records attributed to Lance Lanyon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Exercise distance and speed affect the risk of fracture in racehorses.

In order to gain insight into those training regimens that can minimise the risk of fracture in athletic populations, we conducted a large epidemiological study in racehorses. Thoroughbred racehorses provide a suitable model for studying fracture development and exercise-related risk factors in physically active populations. They represent a homogeneous population, undertaking intensive exercise programmes that are sufficiently heterogeneous to determine those factors that influence injury risk. Daily exercise information was recorded for a cohort of 1178 thoroughbreds that were monitored for up to 2 years. A total of 148 exercise-induced fractures occurred in the study population. Results from a nested case-control study showed a strong interactive effect of exercise distances at different speeds on fracture risk. Horses that exceeded 44 km at canter (< or =14 m/s) and 6 km at gallop (>14 m/s) in a 30-day period were at particularly increased risk of fracture. These distances equate to ca. 7700 bone loading cycles at canter and 880 loading cycles at gallop. Fifty-six fractures occurred in the subset of study horses that were followed since entering training as yearlings, when skeletally immature (n = 335). Cohort analysis of this data set showed that, in previously untrained bones, accumulation of canter exercise increased the risk of fracture (P < or = 0.01), whereas accumulation of high-speed gallop exercise had a protective effect (P < 0.01). However, increasing distances at canter and gallop in short time periods (up to one month) were associated with an increasing fracture risk. All training exercise involves a balance between the risk of fracture inherent in exposure to loading and the beneficial effect that loading has by stimulating bone cells to produce a more robust architecture. Results from our study provide important epidemiological evidence of the effects of physical exercise on bone adaptation and injury risk and can be used to inform the design of safer exercise regimens in physically active populations.

Animals↗

Is estrogen receptor alpha key to controlling bones' resistance to fracture?

The ability of bones to withstand functional loading without damage depends upon their cell populations establishing and subsequently maintaining a mass and architecture that are appropriately robust for the purpose. In women, the rapid loss of bone associated with the menopause represents a steplike decline in the effectiveness of this process with consequent increase in bone fragility. In men, loss of bone tissue and reduction in bone strength are more gradual and the increased incidence of fragility fractures occurs later. In both sexes, bone mass is associated with levels of bioavailable estrogen. This poses the major question as to how the presence or concentration of the reproductive hormone estrogen influences the relationship between bone mass and bone loading. In this paper, we briefly review evidence of the mechanism(s) by which the mechanical strains engendered by loading influence bone cells to establish and maintain structurally competent bone architecture. We highlight the finding that at least one strain-related cascade responsible for adaptive control of bone architecture is mediated through estrogen receptor (ER) alpha, the number and activity of which are regulated by estrogen. We hypothesize that a major contributor to the rapid loss of bone mass that occurs in females, and the slower age-related fall in males and females, is reduced effectiveness of ER-mediated processing of strain-related information by resident bone cells.

Adaptation, Physiological↗