seb@ahutb.UUCP (seb) (03/07/85)
Did anyone happen to see the new science show called Discover on PBS. I saw is on channel 13 in NY. It's on at 9 PM Wednesday. One of the segments was on osteoporosis and exercise. An electrical engineer who is a horse racing fanatic wanted to develop a test that could indicate when a race horse would be most likely to break a leg. He did this with ultra-sonics. And from what the trainers said, the test seemed to work. Some doctors started using this test on people but for a different reason. They wanted to see if exercise increased bone mass. If this is so, then osteoporosis could be prevented with exercise. The most startling test results came from pitcher Don Sutton. Here is a man who uses only one arm. Would his non-pitching arm show less bone mass? The doctor said that the reading for his arms was 3.2. I don't remember the units used. Don Sutton's pitching arm had a reading of 4.2 while his non-pitching arm had a reading of 2.7! What a difference! I've heard lots of commercials lately from the dairy council saying we should all drink milk because it has calicum which prevents osteoporosis. It would seem that exercise has as much to do with as calicum, and milk and cheese are not necessary for healthy bones. Sharon Badian
mef@wucs.UUCP (Mark Frisse) (03/15/85)
> Did anyone happen to see the new science show called Discover on > PBS. I saw is on channel 13 in NY. It's on at 9 PM Wednesday. > Some doctors started using this test on people but > for a different reason. They wanted to see if exercise increased > bone mass. If this is so, then osteoporosis could be prevented > with exercise. The most startling test results came from > pitcher Don Sutton. Here is a man who uses only one arm. Would > his non-pitching arm show less bone mass? The doctor said that > the reading for his arms was 3.2. I don't remember the units > used. Don Sutton's pitching arm had a reading of 4.2 while his > non-pitching arm had a reading of 2.7! What a difference! Paraplegics also experience loss of bone mass in their imobilized limbs. mark frise