Faculty Sponsor
Mary Lee Nitschke
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Date
5-11-2012 3:00 PM
End Date
5-11-2012 4:30 PM
Subject Area
Psychology (general)
Description
Calcium is an important nutrient for metabolism of bones (Greer & Krebs, 2006). This study hypothesizes that consuming calcium supplements for twenty years decreases women’s risk of developing osteoporosis. A longitudinal study of 100 women in Portland, Oregon consists of five different conditions where all except the nutritional group takes 1000mg calcium supplements daily for 20 years. Conditions for the study (N=20 in each condition) will be: nutrition, weight-bearing exercise, smoking, overweight/obese, and hormonal effects. Journaling will follow each participant’s daily calcium intake. Journal data will be compared with bone mineral density results to see calcium effects. Bone mass density measurements will be performed at the baseline, the 10-year midpoint, and at completion of the study (20 years).
Calcium isn’t the only factor in maximizing bone mass. This study shows that factors like smoking, obesity, hormones, and exercise also impact bone density. Calcium alone won’t affect one-tailed t-test results. Comparing smoking and hormone changes to calcium intake provides the ability to analyze BMD results at 20 years to examine if smoking continuously makes a difference compared to hormonal changes. The anticipated outcome is that, through daily calcium intake, a women’s BMD results will remain in the +1 to -2.5 range, leaving her either healthy or having low bone mass but not osteoporosis.
Recommended Citation
Nicola, Piilani, "Longitudinal Analysis of Calcium Supplementation Preventing Bone Mass Loss in Females" (2012). Science and Social Sciences. Event. Submission 44.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/studsymp_sci/2012/all/44
Longitudinal Analysis of Calcium Supplementation Preventing Bone Mass Loss in Females
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Calcium is an important nutrient for metabolism of bones (Greer & Krebs, 2006). This study hypothesizes that consuming calcium supplements for twenty years decreases women’s risk of developing osteoporosis. A longitudinal study of 100 women in Portland, Oregon consists of five different conditions where all except the nutritional group takes 1000mg calcium supplements daily for 20 years. Conditions for the study (N=20 in each condition) will be: nutrition, weight-bearing exercise, smoking, overweight/obese, and hormonal effects. Journaling will follow each participant’s daily calcium intake. Journal data will be compared with bone mineral density results to see calcium effects. Bone mass density measurements will be performed at the baseline, the 10-year midpoint, and at completion of the study (20 years).
Calcium isn’t the only factor in maximizing bone mass. This study shows that factors like smoking, obesity, hormones, and exercise also impact bone density. Calcium alone won’t affect one-tailed t-test results. Comparing smoking and hormone changes to calcium intake provides the ability to analyze BMD results at 20 years to examine if smoking continuously makes a difference compared to hormonal changes. The anticipated outcome is that, through daily calcium intake, a women’s BMD results will remain in the +1 to -2.5 range, leaving her either healthy or having low bone mass but not osteoporosis.