STATURE LOSS FROM SUSTAINED GENTLE BODY LOADING

The effects of low levels of loading on spinal creep have been investi gated in nine young men aged between 19 and 24 years. The stimulus for the project was an interest in the potential use of stadiometry in ev aluating selected classes of patients with spinal disorders. Underlyin g the experiment was the view that if gentle spinal loadings cannot be differentiated sensitively in normal young adults then the feasibilit y of using stadiometric measurements to identify patients with decreas ed lability is questionable. Subjects were measured on a precision sta diometer before and after 25 minutes of free standing and quiet walkin g, and the resultant stature losses compared with the more substantial losses observed following steady running. All measurements were made following the same presession routine, at exactly the same time on thr ee separate mornings. It was observed that while no appreciable statur e loss followed standing (X=0.01 mm; SE=0.65 mm; p>0.05) even quiet wa lking had a measurable and statistically significant effect (X=1.82 mm ; SE=0.49 mm; p<0.01). Compared with these, steady running produced al most 2 1/2 times as great a loss (XBAR=4.32 mm; SE=0.83 mm; p<0.01). I t is concluded: (a) that erect standing provides a useful neutral base line from which the changes associated with spinal loading and unloadi ng may be measured; (b) that the effects of even gentle spinal loading s may be differentiated sensitively by precision stadiometry; and (c) that easy walking is one such gentle stimulus with detectable effects in normal young men.