Creatine helps Maintain Hip Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women

by | Jan 5, 2016 | 2015, Creatine, Women's Health, Women's Health - Bone Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Postmenopausal women who supplemented with creatine and did resistance training for 12 months saw a significant increase in hip bone density and bone periosteum compared to those who did only resistance training.

Osteoporosis and related fractures represent a major public health problem. Osteoporosis in the American elderly population cost our healthcare system $22 billion in 2008 (1) and hip fractures have been shown to increase the risk of death by 20% (2). Because most patients with osteoporosis and hip fractures require costly long-term nursing home care (3), it is very important to identify risk factors that can be controlled.

Now a new study (4) suggests that postmenopausal women can participate in a weight training program and supplement the program with creatine, a nitrogen-containing compound. Creatine, which is naturally produced in the body but is also found in red meat and seafood (5), helps create energy (6), to help maintain bone density in the hip.

The study involved 47 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 64. They were assigned to 1 of 2 groups for one year:

  • Group 1 (n=23) participated in resistance training sessions 3 days per week in addition to supplementing with creatine (100 milligrams of creatine per kilogram of bodyweight)
  • Group 2 (n=24) participated in a resistance training program in addition to supplementing with a placebo

The resistance training exercises were done in 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 80% of their maximum effort. The exercises included the following: hack squat, hip abduction, adduction, flexion, and extension (on a machine to work the hip), hamstrings curl, quadriceps (knee) extension, back extension, bench press, latissimus muscle pulldown, shoulder press, biceps curl, triceps extension (presses), wrist pronation and supination (with dumbbells), and ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion.

After 1 year, those in the creatine group saw a 1.4% increase in the density of a bone in their hip called the femoral neck (0.732 to 0.722 grams per centimeter2) compared to a 3.8% decrease in the placebo group (0.791 to 0.761 g/cm2, p < 0.05). In addition, an area of the hip bone surface (the periosteum), called “sub-periosteal width”, increased by 1.4% in the creatine group (2.85 to 2.89 centimeters) compared to a 4% decrease in the placebo group (3.03 to 2.91 cm, p < 0.05).

The significance of slowing the decline in femoral neck density (1.4% versus 3.8% decline) is that research has shown every 5% decrease in bone mineral density to increase the risk of hip fracture by 25% greater risk of fracture (7). In addition, increasing the sub-periosteal width of the bone increases its “bending strength” (8), thereby possibly helping decrease the risk of hip fracture.

For the researchers, “12 months of creatine supplementation during a resistance training program preserves femoral neck bone mineral density and increases femoral shaft superiosteal width, a predictor of bone bending strength, in postmenopausal women” and that “This justifies future larger clinical trials for evaluation of the effects of creatine on bone health.”

Source: Chilibeck, Philip D., et al. “Effects of creatine and resistance training on bone health in postmenopausal women.” Med Sci Sports Exerc 47.8 (2015): 1587-1595.

© 2014 by the American College of Sports Medicine. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

Posted August 17, 2015.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. Blume SW. Medical costs of osteoporosis in the elderly Medicare population. Osteoporos Int 2011 Jun;22(6):1835-44. doi: 10.1007/s00198-010-1419-7. Epub 2010 Dec 17
  2. Kanis J, WHO Study Group. Assessment of fracture risk and its applications to screening for postmenopausal osteoporosis of a WHO report. Osteoporos Int 1994;4:368–81.
  3. Cummings S, Kelsey J, Nevitt M, O’Dowd K. Epidemiology of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. Epidemiol Rev 1985;7:178 –208.
  4. Chilibeck PD. Effects of Creatine and Resistance Training on Bone Health in Postmenopausal Women. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2015 Aug;47(8):1587-95. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000571.
  5. Wyss M, Kaddurah-Daouk R. Creatine and creatinine metabolism. Physiol Rev. 2000;80(3):1107–213
  6. Chrusch MJ, Chilibeck PD, Chad KE, Davison KS, Burke DG. Creatine supplementation combined with resistance training in older men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001;33(12):2111–7
  7. Guyatt GH, Cranney A, Griffith L, et al. Summary of metaanalyses of therapies for postmenopausal osteoporosis and the relationship between bone density and fractures. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2002;31:659–79
  8. LaCroix AZ, Beck TJ, Cauley JA, et al. Hip structural geometry and incidence of hip fracture in postmenopausal women: what does it add to conventional bone mineral density? Osteoporosis Int. 2010;21:919–29