LUMBAR SPINE AND TOTAL-BODY BONE MASS IN HEALTHY ELDERLY MEN AND WOMEN

Lumbar spine and total body bone mass was measured by dual photon absorptiometry in 119 healthy elderly men and women. The rate of loss of mineral from the lumbar spine was the same in elderly women and men and is probably not different from the accepted rate for young adults. For elderly women there was a significant annual rate of loss of 24 g of bone mineral from the skeleton. The most important predictor of bone mass was body weight. The only fitness or strength variable contributing to bone mass variance was arm strength which accounted for 4 per cent of the variance of lumbar spine bone mineral density in women.