Background: A recent study has shown that biomarkers relating to the variation of muscle strength with age exhibited gender differences. Objective: To discover whether gender differences in kyphosis and its progression with age might be explained in a related manner. Methods: Relevant aspects of muscular ageing, and related changes in the Cobb angle (a measure of kyphosis) were examined and linked to data on the gerontology of musculature. A hypothesis regarding embryonic antecedents was advanced. Results: Kyphosis appears to rest on a multifactorial basis, with age and muscular changes playing potentially important roles. Conclusions: The role of muscle strength as a cause of kyphosis merits further investigation. Both muscular and kyphotic studies should be repeated on the same subjects, and relevant embryonic antecedents be examined. A study of the relation between gonadal and antenatal muscular development might yield conclusive results.

Keywords:
Spine, Age-related changes, Bone mineral density, Aetiology, Gender, Muscle strength, Osteoporosis
© 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel
2011
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