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WEDNESDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking one or two alcoholic beverages several times a week may improve the bone health of older women and reduce their risk for osteoporosis, a small study suggests. Bones are living tissue with old bone continually removed and replaced in a process called remodeling. In people with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, more bone is lost than replaced. Postmenopausal women are at particular risk because of reduced estrogen, a hormone essential for bone strength, the researchers explained. "This study clearly demonstrates that even small amounts of alcohol have potent actions and can rapidly impact bone...

Vitamin D is known for helping create strong bones and is a key regulator of serum calcium levels. Recent studies, however, have not offered much proof that Vitamin D supplements prevents bone fractures.

When it comes to improving bone health in postmenopausal women — and people of all ages, actually — a Florida State University researcher has found a simple, proactive solution to help prevent fractures and osteoporosis: eating dried plums. "Over my career, I have tested numerous fruits, including figs, dates, strawberries and raisins, and none of them come anywhere close to having the effect on bone density that dried plums, or prunes, have," said Bahram H. Arjmandi, Florida State's Margaret A. Sitton Professor and chairman of the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences (http://www.chs.fsu.edu/nfes/) in the College of Human Sciences....

As strange as it sounds, a new research study published in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), suggests that the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, may prevent the negative effects that spaceflight and sedentary lifestyles have on people. The report describes experiments in rats that simulated the weightlessness of spaceflight, during which the group fed resveratrol did not develop insulin resistance or a loss of bone mineral density, as did those who were not fed resveratrol. This study also suggests that resveratrol may be able to prevent the deleterious consequences of sedentary behaviors in humans.

To fully optimize a drug therapy for osteoporosis and low bone mineral density (BMD), patients should maintain vitamin D levels above the limits recently recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), according to a new study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. The study will be presented at the Endocrine Society's Annual Meeting in Boston, June 4-7. The study demonstrated that maintaining a circulating vitamin D level above 33 ng/ml is associated with a seven-fold greater likelihood of having a more favorable outcome with bisphosphonate therapy. Last November, the IOM issued recommendations that 25-Hydroxy vitamin D...

A team of researchers at Columbia Engineering and Columbia University Medical Center announced today the results of the first study comparing bone structure in Chinese-American women to Caucasian women. The report, just presented at the Orthopaedic Research Society's annual meeting at Long Beach, CA, found that pre-menopausal Chinese-American women have far greater bone strength than their Caucasian counterparts, as determined by a breakthrough technological advance. The Columbia team was led by X. Edward Guo, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, and, from Columbia University Medical Center, John P. Bilezikian, Professor of Medicine and...

New report reveals tragic state of post-fracture care in the region, predicts huge increase in osteoporotic fractures due to aging populationsPreliminary findings from an upcoming new report by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) show alarming projections and reveal the poor state of post-fracture care in the Russian Federation and many other countries in the region. The findings were announced today at a press conference in St. Petersburg at the IOF Summit of Eastern European and Central Asian Osteoporosis Patient Societies. Osteoporosis, a disease of the bone which leaves people at increased risk of fracture, is most common in the older...

The agave plant, the key ingredient in Mexico's famous tequila, could help treat diabetes and osteoporosis, according to Mexican researchers. > Drinking tequila would not give the same health benefits, however, since fructans lose their effect during the fermentation process, Lopez added. >

Caption: This illustration from an 1887 book shows the fabled "Vegetable Lamb of Tartary," a plant once believed to ripen into a baby sheep. The plant now shows promise for treating osteoporosis. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Usage Restrictions: None The "vegetable lamb" plant — once believed to bear fruit that ripened into a living baby sheep — produces substances that show promise in laboratory experiments as new treatments for osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease. That's the conclusion of a new study in ACS' monthly Journal of Natural Products. Young Ho Kim and colleagues point out that osteoporosis is a global health problem,...

SAN ANTONIO — Two differently designed studies found a nearly identical, roughly 30% reduction in the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women who took bisphosphonates to prevent or remediate bone loss. The results of a retrospective analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) in the United States and a case-control study conducted in Israel were presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. In both studies, cancer incidence was sharply lower among women prescribed bisphosphonates for low bone mineral density, suggesting that the impact of these agents may extend beyond bone. In the 151,592-patient database for...

Thursday January 21, 2010 Study: Low-Dose Birth Control Pills Decrease Bone Density in Young Women By Thaddeus M. BaklinskiSEATTLE, January 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study showing a link between long-term use of oral contraceptives and a decrease in bone density in women under the age of 30 has found that the modern low-dose forms of estrogen pills have the greatest risk of harming a woman's bone density.The study, published in the January issue of Contraception Journal, measured bone mineral density (BMD) of the hip, spine, and whole body to analyze how both the duration of taking the...

Almost half of all women who use a popular injected contraceptive lose a significant amount of bone mass within two years, and researchers now say the greatest risk is to smokers, women who don’t consume enough calcium and those who have never gone through a pregnancy. A study that followed women who used the birth-control method — a shot of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, better known as DMPA or Depo-Provera, every three months — found that 45 percent of the users experienced bone mineral density losses of 5 percent or more in the hip or lower spine, researchers said. The study...

Effects of vitamin D deficiency amplified by shortage of estrogenResearchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone. In a national study in 1010 men, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, researchers say the new findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and...

Rates of hip fractures, an often devastating consequence of osteoporosis, have been steadily falling for two decades in Canada, a new study finds. And a similar trend occurred in the United States, researchers found. But it is not clear why. Drugs that slow the rate of bone loss may be part of the reason, but they cannot be the entire explanation, osteoporosis researchers say. And although experts can point to other possible factors — like fall prevention efforts and a heavier population — the declining rates remain a medical mystery. The new study, published Wednesday in The Journal of the...

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Two existing drugs used to treat osteoporosis may be effective in killing influenza viruses, including the new H1N1 swine flu and the H5N1 bird flu viruses, researchers in Hong Kong have found. The two drugs are pamidronate and zoledronate, which are marketed by Novartis AG under the brand names Aredia and Reclast, respectively. In their experiment, the researchers exposed human cells that had been infected with the influenza viruses to the two drugs. They observed that the drugs triggered extra production of a type of white blood cell called yd-T cells, which went on to kill...

A study found that the bones of women who drink beer regularly are stronger, making them less likely to suffer from osteoporosis. It is thought that the high level of silicon in beer slows down the thinning that leads to fractures and boosts the formation of new bone, the journal Nutrition reports. Beer is also rich in phytoestrogens, plant versions of oestrogen, which keep bones healthy. Bones are made up of a mesh of fibres, minerals, blood vessels and marrow, and healthy ones are denser with smaller spaces between the different parts. The researchers asked almost 1,700 healthy women with...

New questions have emerged about whether long-term use of bone-building drugs for osteoporosis may actually lead to weaker bones in a small number of people who use them. The concern rises mainly from a series of case reports showing a rare type of leg fracture that shears straight across the upper thighbone after little or no trauma. Fractures in this sturdy part of the bone typically result from car accidents, or in the elderly and frail. But the case reports show the unusual fracture pattern in people who have used bone-building drugs called bisphosphonates for five years or more. Some...

Researchers looking for genes that raise the risk of osteoporosis found seven different sequences associated with the bone-thinning disease, and one team found two that might predict the risk for 20 percent of people. The studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet on Tuesday, may also shed light into how osteoporosis develops. A British team identified two small mutations called SNPs -- single-letter changes in the DNA code -- that predicted thinning bones. They scanned the genes of 2,094 female twins and identified a link between decreased bone mineral density and changes in genes on...

Largest, longest study ever supports screening and prevention of osteoporosis.One bone mineral density test can accurately predict a woman's chance of spinal fractures 15 years down the line, new research shows. And, according to the largest and longest prospective study of osteoporosis ever, women who had a spinal fracture at the beginning of the study had four times the risk of sustaining another fracture later on. The bottom line: "Women need to talk to their doctors about the risk of osteoporosis," according to Jane Cauley, lead author of the study and professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate...

Clinton T. Rubin knows full well that his recent results are surprising — that no one has been more taken aback than he. And he cautions that it is far too soon to leap to conclusions about humans. But still, he says, what if ... ? And no wonder, other scientists say. Dr. Rubin, director of the Center for Biotechnology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is reporting that in mice, a simple treatment that does not involve drugs appears to be directing cells to turn into bone instead of fat. All he does is put...

For the first time, an osteoporosis drug has reduced deaths and prevented new fractures in elderly patients with broken hips, according to new research. Some experts called the drop in deaths "striking" but said other drugs could have a similar effect. In the study, there were 28 percent fewer deaths and 35 percent fewer fractures in the group that got a once-a-year infusion of the bone drug Reclast compared to those who got a dummy treatment. No other osteoporosis drug study published in at least 15 years has shown such a pronounced reduction in deaths, said Dr. Kenneth Lyles of...

Researchers in the Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam have created a unique way of identifying patients at risk of osteoporosis by using ordinary dental x-rays. Professor Paul F. van der Stelt and his team developed the largely automated approach to detecting the disease during a three-year, EU-funded collaboration with the Universities of Manchester, Athens, Leuven, and Malmö. They will present their findings today during the 85th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research. Osteoporosis affects almost 15% of Western women in their fifties, 22% in their sixties, and 38.5% in their seventies. As many as 70% of women...

People taking powerful antacid drugs called proton pump inhibitors face an increased risk of hip fracture, University of Pennsylvania researchers report. Common proton pump inhibitors include Aciphex, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix; they are often prescribed for stomach conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The report is published in the Dec. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "If you take acid-suppression medications on a chronic basis and you are 50 or older, your hip fracture risk is even higher than usual," said study author Dr.Yu-Xiao Yang, an assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology. "In addition,...

Cola Raises Women's Osteoporosis Risk 10.06.06, 12:00 AM ET FRIDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Cola may not be so sweet for women's bones, according to new research that suggests the beverage boosts osteoporosis risk. "Among women, cola beverages were associated with lower bone mineral density," said lead researcher Katherine Tucker, director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. There was a pretty clear dose-response, Tucker added. "Women who drink cola daily had lower bone mineral density than those who drink it only once a week,"...

In the last 10 years, millions of patients have taken a class of drugs that can prevent agonizing broken and deteriorating bones. The drugs once seemed perfectly safe and have transformed life for patients with cancer or osteoporosis. But recently there have been reports of a serious side effect: death of areas of bone in the jaw. Everyone agrees that the condition, osteonecrosis of the jaw, is an uncommon complication, but that its true incidence is not known. It is estimated that among the 500,000 American cancer patients who take the drugs because their disease is affecting their bones, 1...

Canadian Press Toronto — An osteoporosis drug has been found to reduce the incidence of invasive breast cancer in high-risk, post-menopausal women as effectively as tamoxifen, the medication considered the gold standard for warding off the disease over the last two decades. In a head-to-head study, both tamoxifen and raloxifene were found to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer by almost 50 per cent compared with placebo — but raloxifene had far fewer serious side-effects. “This is good news for women,” Dr. Leslie Ford of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, told a teleconference Monday to announce the results of...

An estimated 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, according to the National Institutes of Health. Another 34 million are considered at increased risk for getting the bone disease. A good many of those patients stand to benefit if a new osteoporosis drug from Amgen (NasdaqNM:AMGN - News) turns out to be successful. Phase two data on the investigational drug, dubbed Denosumab, was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug was given in twice-yearly injections. A total of 412 postmenopausal women with low bone marrow density were randomly assigned to receive Denosumab, Merck's (NYSE:MRK - News) Fosamax...

Anyone concerned about their bones is likely to make sure they have plenty of vitamin D, either by getting enough sunshine, eating fish, or taking supplements. Yet scientists know surprisingly little about how the compound works. A new study has finally shed some light on this process, showing how the vitamin takes part in a delicate balancing act between cells that tear down our bones and cells that rebuild them. Vitamin D is a familiar player in bone health. Without sufficient amounts of this hormone, our frames become frail with disorders such as osteoporosis or rickets. But vitamin D has...

December 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Women are suing the makers of Depo-Provera birth control, saying it has caused them severe bone loss leading to osteoporosis.A $700-million class-action lawsuit has been filed against the drug company Pfizer, an international pharmaceutical conglomerate that also produces the prescription drugs Viagra, Zoloft and Celebrex. Pfizer has come under fire in the past for alleged lethal side effects stemming from the use of the anti-depressant Zoloft, and the company currently faces a number of lawsuits in the U.S. over Celebrex, which is alleged to cause heart attacks in users.The drug Depo-Provera acts as an abortifacient....

It used to be that a patient with osteoporosis who broke a vertebra was pretty much out of luck. The only recourse was wearing a back brace and waiting to heal. If the searing pain was unbearable, it could be blunted with powerful narcotics. But in the past few years, doctors have been offering and patients demanding what some call a miraculous treatment: vertebroplasty (pronounced vur-TEE-bro-plasty), in which a form of cement is injected into the broken spinal bone. No one is sure why it helps, or even if it does. The hot cement may be shoring up the spine...

Despite what doctors have long recommended, regularly taking calcium and vitamin D does not prevent fractures in older people who have broken a bone or who have osteoporosis, according to two large studies released yesterday. People with osteoporosis are often encouraged to consume as much calcium and vitamin D as possible to strengthen their bones and to lower the likelihood of injuries. But the new studies, involving thousands of elderly people in Britain who had symptoms of the disease, found that those who took calcium and vitamin D tablets were just as likely to break a bone as those who...

WASHINGTON, March 25 (AP) - A once-a-month pill to help women battle the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, Boniva, will be the first monthly osteoporosis medication, said Dr. Ronald Emkey of Radiant Research in Reading, Pa., which conducted trials of the drug. Current medications are taken weekly. Boniva was approved late Thursday, and it is being jointly promoted by the makers, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche. The companies estimate that 44 million Americans older than 50 suffer from osteoporosis. Also known as ibandronate sodium, Boniva, in 150 milligram tablets, is intended for treating...

WASHINGTON - A once-a-month pill to help women battle the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Boniva will be the first monthly osteoporosis medication, said Dr. Ronald Emkey of Radiant Research in Reading, Pa., which conducted trials of the drug. Current medications are taken weekly. Boniva, approved late Thursday, is being jointly promoted by the drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche. The companies estimate that 44 million Americans over age 50 suffer from osteoporosis Known as ibandronate sodium, the 150 milligram tablets are intended for both treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The drug is...

Pain Sufferers Find Yoga and Diet Can Comfort ImmuneSupport.com 02-14-2005 By Carrie White, Tribune Scottsdale, Arizona rheumatologist Paul Howard doesn’t believe pharmaceuticals, by themselves, are the best way for people with arthritis to get better. Rather, Howard sees treatment for the disease — joint inflammation affecting nearly 70 million Americans — as involving a combination of exercise, supplementation, diet and, if needed, weight loss. His patients bear out his approach. Peggy McKee, 76, of Scottsdale first visited Howard’s office three years ago with an arthritis flare-up shortly after the death of her husband and a daughter. McKee, who suffers from...

Bone and gut disorders 'linked'Osteoporosis patients should be screened for a gut disease, US researchers believe.Coeliac disease is an intolerance to gluten - found in wheat A Washington University Bone Clinic study of 840 people found those with the brittle bone disorder were 17 times more likely to have coeliac disease. The disease, an intolerance to gluten which makes digestion difficult, is found in 1% of the general population. The team told the Archives of Internal Medicine the study provided evidence of the benefits of a screening programme. Although coeliac disease patients commonly have a low bone mineral density, the...

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 17, 2004 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that a "black box" warning, highlighting prolonged use may result in the loss of bone density, will be added to the labeling of Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection, an established injectable drug approved for use in women to prevent pregnancy. Although Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection has been used for decades for birth control throughout the world and remains a safe and effective contraceptive, FDA and Pfizer, the drug's manufacturer, are taking this action to ensure that physicians and patients have access to this important information. The black box warning...

CHICAGO, July 6 (Reuters) - Soy protein, a supplement many doctors recommend as a substitute for hormone therapy for postmenopausal women, did not decrease bone loss or affect other symptoms in a study of Dutch women, researchers reported Tuesday. Naturally occurring compounds called isoflavones, which are found in soybeans, are thought to mimic estrogen compounds in hormone therapy. Some women want to avoid hormone therapy because recent studies have indicated that long-term use could raise the risk of stroke, dementia and some forms of cancer. In the new study, which followed 175 Dutch women for a year, half the participants...

Moderate alcohol consumption could help protect women against brittle bone disease, according to a new study. Researchers at London's St Thomas Hospital examined the effect of alcohol on 46 pairs of identical twins, who drank either moderately or very little. The moderate drinkers - who drank an average of eight alcohol units a week - had significantly denser bones than those who consumed very little. The research findings were published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Researchers focused on the bone mineral density of subjects, as measured at the hip and spine. Chemical markers of the bone turnover were measured...

<p>LONDON -- The American study that triggered a worldwide scare over the risks of hormone-replacement therapy was fundamentally flawed and not applicable to most women going through menopause, according to a group of leading researchers.</p> <p>The Women's Health Initiative appeared to show that hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) increased the risk of heart disease and breast cancer.</p>

For millions of women who have the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, researchers are reporting that Fosamax, the drug most commonly used worldwide to improve bone density and prevent fractures, can be taken safely and effectively for 10 years. About three million Americans now take the drug, most of them postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, according to its maker, Merck. The new study, the longest clinical trial ever conducted in osteoporosis, found that Fosamax enabled postmenopausal women to maintain or increase their bone density through 10 years of treatment, with no apparent ill effects. The improved bone density persisted even after the drug...

Curing Chronic Illness Can Be Used To Destroy Either Political Party Ladies and Gentlemen: I present to you the world's longest running, and greatest, medical blunder, the cures for incurable diseases, and the Second Coming of Christ. There are 120 million American's with chronic illness. In 1997, researchers at Yale University were studying the clustering of autoimmune disorders in 84 families with Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome (APLA). They stated then that if they knew what caused APLA they would know a lot more about many of the other chronic illnesses. At the same time, I was searching the Internet for information...

Source: University Of Maine Date: 2004-01-30 Teenage Girls Lacking In Vitamin D A University of Maine researcher has found evidence that many girls in Maine are not getting enough vitamin D, either from their diets or sun exposure. Lack of the critical nutrient could lead to health risks later in life, especially for osteoporosis. Vitamin D is necessary for the growth of healthy bones and may be critical in other bodily processes as well. What's Related Lack Of Sun Poses Danger In Our Twilight Years Over the last three years, Susan Sullivan of the Dept. of Food Science and Human...

New Surgery Straightening Bent Backs and Helping Osteoporosis Sufferers A tiny balloon is straightening bent backs and getting rid of excruciating pain for people with osteoporosis. The new surgery is called Kyphoplasty. A tiny tube with a balloon at the tip is inserted into the collapsed spine and pumped with liquid. The spine is restored to its original upright position. After the balloon is taken out, cement is pushed in to take its place. "The whole procedure took about 25 minutes. She can get up and walk around, doesn't need a brace, she has no restrictions on her activities. The...