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Physical activity increase may alleviate risk for primary hyperparathyroidism
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Increasing physical activity levels may lower the risk for primary hyperparathyroidism among women, according to study results published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
“Primary hyperparathyroidism is an increasingly prevalent condition that predominantly affects postmenopausal women,” the researchers wrote. “Despite this important public health context, our understanding of modifiable risk factors for developing [primary hyperparathyroidism], and methods by which to prevent or mitigate its severity, remain limited.”
Anand Vaidya, MD, MMSc, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues evaluated data from the Nurses’ Health Study I on 69,621 women followed for 22 years to determine the effect of low physical activity on developing primary hyperparathyroidism. Quintiles were used to categorize physical activity and participants in quintile 1 served as the reference group. The risk for developing primary hyperparathyroidism was also evaluated when combining physical activity (< 16 metabolic equivalent hours/week) with formerly identified risk factors for development: low calcium intake (< 800 mg/d) and hypertension. The link between physical activity and parathyroid hormone (PTH) was evaluated in 625 participants.
During 1,474,993 person-years of follow-up there were 302 confirmed incident cases of primary hyperparathyroidism.
The age-adjusted RR for primary hyperparathyroidism was significantly lower in quintile 4 and 50% lower in quintile 5 compared with participants in the lowest quintile of cumulative average physical activity.
Compared with participants with no risk factors, there was a 2.37-fold higher risk for developing primary hyperparathyroidism among participants with lower calcium intake and lower physical activity. A fourfold higher risk was found among participants with all three risk factors compared with those with no risk factors; however, according to the researchers this finding should be taken cautiously because there were only 31 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism among those with no risk factors.
Lower physical activity, older age, higher BMI, postmenopausal status, lower total calcium and vitamin A intake, higher prevalence of hypertension, lower prevalence of diabetes and lower levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were associated with higher PTH levels.
“We observed that participation in higher weekly physical activity was associated with a significantly lower risk of developing [primary hyperparathyroidism] when compared with a more sedentary lifestyle. Our findings extend prior studies demonstrating a reduction in PTH secretion following acute and chronic exercise. This association between sedentary behavior and development of [primary hyperparathyroidism] was independent of other potential risk factors for [primary hyperparathyroidism], and may be further amplified in individuals who also consume less calcium and who have hypertension. Since low physical activity is a potentially modifiable risk factor, future studies are needed to evaluate whether increasing physical activity can prevent the incidence of, or even mitigate the severity of, primary hyperparathyroidism.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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