bone health

Osteoporosis: what’s the 411?

Posted by Liz on Feb 19, 2010 in bone health, osteoporosis | 0 comments

Osteoporosis and low bone mineral density are well-known issues for menopausal women. As women enter the early stages of menopause, their bones lose their ability to retain their mass and manufacture new bone tissue, resulting in bone loss and increasing the risk for osteoporosis and its deleterious effects. What’s more, experts estimate that by the time a woman reaches the age of 50, she has a 40% risk of suffering a fracture due to osteoporosis for the rest of her lifetime. Besides the discomfort, hip fractures in women lead to a loss of mobility, a need for long-term care and even death. No bones about it; osteoporosis is no laughing matter.

Risk factors that contribute to a loss of bone mineral density are varied and include age, genetics, low calcium/vitamin D intake, body weight and menopause status. However, osteoporosis is a mixed bag and there are several underlying conditions that can also contribute to its severity:

• Medications (e.g. heparin, anticonvulsants, progesterone, chemotherapy agents)
• Parathyroid hormone (which regulates  how calcium is used in the body – released in urine, absorbed in diet and stored in bones)
• Calcium imbalance due to excessive calcium excretion, aka “hypercalciuria,” Vitamin D deficiencies

Before I move into the land of boredom, there is a reason why I’m sharing some of the facts about osteoporosis, which BTW are readily available on the National Osteoporosis Foundation website (if you’ve not perused the site, I strongly encourage you to do so!): there is an indication that your practitioner might not be looking for these important secondary causes! Moreover, sometimes they are not even readily apparent.

Writing in the journal Menopause, researchers studying 204 menopausal women say that they’ve discovered that among the various factors that influence a woman’s risk for low bone density, several impact severity:

• Low vitamin D levels (82% of women in this study had below optimal levels)
• Elevated parathyroid hormone levels (35% of women in the study) — (leads to too much calcium in the blood and a loss of calcium from bones)
• Unusually high calcium excretion (20% of women in the study)
• High bone turnover rates (41% of women in the study) — (high bone turnover refers to an increase in  the breakdown, or resorption of bone without a compensation for the repair of bone, leading to compromised strength, thinning, brittleness and fractures)

There are a number of dietary and lifestyle strategies to prevent osteoporosis, including incorporating Vitamin D and calcium supplementation, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids into the diet, and increasing physical activity. More recent findings suggest that beer, onions and even flaxseed may be effective (although more research is needed). Meanwhile, if you’ve recently learnt that your bone mineral density is low (or that you’ve actually developed osteoporosis) you need to speak to your practitioner about some of these other markers. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the greater the likelihood that you can start incorporating treatment now to prevent further bone deterioration.

That’s the 411. No bones about it!

Seeds of change, part 2: flaxseed oil and bone health

Posted by Liz on Dec 7, 2009 in bone health | 0 comments

Last year I wrote a post about the promising effects of flaxseed — a plant-based estrogen–  on hot flashes.  Flaxseed contains antioxidants with weak estrogen properties (lignans) and omega-3 fatty acids. It is also an excellent source of fiber. In addition to its potential ability to reduce the frequency and severity of menopausal hot flashes, it might also be a valuable tool for both heart disease prevention and  boosting the effects of breast cancer therapies.

Another potential use of flaxseed, namely the oil, is to reduce osteoporosis risk. In an animal study published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, researchers analyzed how the addition of flaxseed oil to the diet of 70 diabetic rats (30 of which had had their ovaries removed) might affect bone health. Note that while studies have shown a clear link between type 1 diabetes and osteoporosis, the evidence is not quite as clear for type 2. Nevertheless, both types of diabetes have been linked with an increased risk for fractures.

After two months, insulin-like growth factor and osteocalcin ( a bone-creating protein) were increased in rats who received the flaxseed oil in their diet. In fact, the levels of these two markers actually reached normal. On the other hand, levels of a marker that actually breaks down bone, fell. The research team attributed the positive effects of flaxseed oil to its omega-3 component.

Certainly, studies are needed in humans to truly determine if flaxseed oil can have a beneficial effect on bone health, especially in post-menopausal women who also have diabetes. In the meantime, it can’t hurt to add a bit of flaxseed oil to your diet. A little prevention may go a long way towards protecting those bones!

Dem bones were made for dancing!

Posted by Liz on Nov 20, 2009 in bone health, exercise | 0 comments

Get on your dancing shoes!

I was inspired to read that professional dancer Erin Boag from Strictly Come Dancing (the UK’s version of Dancing with the Stars), has teamed up with the International Osteoporosis Foundation to inspire all those armchair dancers to get off their butts and work their bones a bit.  In fact, many bone experts agree that dancing may be an excellent (and non-boring) way to strengthen bones and muscle,  prevent or at least slow osteoporosis.

Mind you, this program is being funded by DAIICHI SANKYO, a pharma company that manufactures drugs that treat osteoporosis. Nevertheless, it’s an important first step towards taking a cheesy premise that attracts millions of television viewers and repackaging some of its basic elements to help people who don’t normally like to exercise to change their habits. Currently available only in Europe and through doctors’ practices, the ‘Improvement through Movement’ DVD offers some easy waltz, rumba and quick step moves.

Osteoporosis is a tremendous problem as we age. In the US, it affects approximately 10 million people, 8 million of whom are women. Worldwide, more than 200 million women suffer from osteoporosis.

I’ve long been a proponent of more natural approaches to solving what ails. And bone health is one of those things that can be easily preserved through weight-bearing physical activity and a healthy diet that incorporates vitamin D and calcium-rich foods and isoflavones. You can read more about bone health in these posts.

In the meantime, this program sounds like a terrific idea that could be easily reproduced in this country as well. What say you ‘Dancing with the Stars?‘ Can we take a page from our European friends on behalf of our US bones?

Hip fracture, early menopause and age

Posted by Liz on Nov 13, 2009 in bone health | 0 comments

Good news for you early menopausers: Australian researchers say that early menopause does not increase the risk for hip fractures due to weaker/lower bone density.

Bone density or bone mineral density (BMD) refers to the individual strength of bones, generally in relation to their calcium content. BMD is known to decline rapidly during the time period that immediately follows menopause, leading to osteoporosis and hip fractures. Because there have been lingering questions regarding how early menopause influences fracture risk, researchers decided to undertake a study that would sort out the relationship of age, menopausal status and age at menopause to hip fractures. Over 561,000 pre-, peri- and postmenopausal women who had never used hormone replacement therapy participated in the study (which lasted, on average, 6 years).

They found that hip fractures were about twice as likely in postmenopausal versus premenopausal women. But more importantly, when age was factored in, this relationship dropped out. In fact, rates of hip factors was as much as seven times higher among women who were between the ages of 70 and 74 compared to women between the ages of 50 and 54. What’s more, age at menopause had little effect on fracture risk.

What you can do now…..

• Calcium – OHC is a formulation that has recently been shown to impart greater protection against bone loss than calcium carbonate.
• Isoflavones – Here, type/source may be important.
• Exercise – Including weight bearing, resistance and strength-training.

Meanwhile, if you are in early menopause, here’s one risk you don’t have to worry about. It’s no reason not to take preventive measures to prevent bone loss in older age. But it is a reason to breathe a bit easier.

Calcium conundrum: which supplement should I choose?

Posted by Liz on Sep 18, 2009 in bone health | 0 comments

Calcium supplements come in many forms including calcium citrate,  calcium carbonate and calcium gluconate.  Experts have long said that when it comes to selecting a calcium supplement, type is less important than the amount of calcium that is available for absorption by the body. This can be determined by looking at % of the recommended daily amount that is available in each dose. Currently, the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that women between the ages of 19 and 49 ingest 1,000 mg daily and over age 50, 1,200 mg daily.

Hence, I was intrigued when I ran across a newly published review in the September/October issue of Menopause that shows a significant advantage with a form of calcium I had not heard of before: ossein-hydroxyapatite complex (OHC), which is the mineral component of bones and teeth.

Conducting an extensive review of six clinical trials that compared OHC to calcium carbonate in 614 postmenopausal women, the researchers found that OHC was statistically superior to calcium carbonate in terms of preventing bone loss and increasing bone mineral density (BMD). Importantly, use of vitamin D did not affect the results nor did further statistical analyses.

OHC is available in microcrystalline form and often goes by the name MCHA or MCHC. This helps insure adequate absorption by the body. I’ve seen it available online and its price structure is similar to other standardized supplement formulations.

After menopause, women can experience as much as a 30% loss of bone, thereby increasing the risk for osteoporosis. I am heartened by this research and by the fact that we now have another tool in our kit to keep our bones strong and healthy. Prevention is key!

Sinking your teeth…into osteoporosis

Posted by Liz on Sep 7, 2009 in bone health | 1 comment

Time to beef up protection of your bones now….before osteoporosis leaves you with fewer teeth. Disturbing study findings from the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Periodontology suggest that osteoporosis won’t just leave you a few inches shorter and hunched over, but you may lose a few teeth while you’re at it.

Researchers examined 651 menopausal women between the ages of 45 and 70, measuring bone density in the hip, spine and the pelvis. Among the women examined, 140 had osteoporosis.

• Despite adjusting for factors that might increase osteoporosis risk, such as age and smoking, a significant association was found between osteoporosis and having fewer teeth.
• On average, women with osteoporosis had at one to three fewer teeth than those without.

Osteoporosis can affect the jaw, leading to bone loss and a decline in bone density needed to support teeth. Although the numbers of teeth lost are fairly low compared to healthy women, it’s important to keep in mind that studies show that tooth loss can have a significant impact on both quality of life and oral comfort.

I’ve written several posts about osteoporosis, bone loss and prevention so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. But I do encourage you to peruse the archives and start taking steps to prevent, slow or halt bone loss before you lose a few bones, and a few teeth.

Just something to sink your teeth into….