Cardiovascular and bone health of former elite infantry soldiers at middle life.

Background: The long term implications of elite infantry service on cardiovascular health and cortical bone width at middle age has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to compare the cardiovascular health and cortical bone thickness of former elite infantry soldiers at middle life with a sedentary population of religious scholars using seven factors associated with cardiovascular risk and QCT tibial cross sections 8 cm above the ankle joint.

Results: Torah scholars had a higher 5 year risk for a fatal or non fatal cardiovascular event (p = 0.008) than former elite infantry soldiers. The former elite infantry soldiers had wider tibia cortices than Torah scholar (p = 0.003).

Conclusions: This study shows that former elite infantry soldiers who performed strenuous physical activity during their military service and continued physical activity in their subsequent life, had stronger tibias based on increased cortical width and a modest decrease in cardiovascular risk at middle life compared to sedentary Torah scholars.