Osteoporosis

Hip fractures remain a significant health problem, especially for the elderly, where a fracture can lead to immobility and a downward spiral. Making use of data from the Framingham Osteoporosis Study, a new study looks at the risk factors and incidence of hip fractures over the last several decades. The study focused on recognized risk factors for fracture, in the end singling out two: smoking and drinking. 
Promising work just published in the journal Nature Medicine offers hope when antibiotic resistance, in an extremely sick patient, renders limited treatments.
There's simply no benefit to supplemental Calcium or Vitamin D for the patient who is well. So why do we continue to waste our money on these supplements? The US Preventative Services Task Force again weighs in to recommend against their use. 
The nutrients that typically come to mind in connection with osteoporosis are calcium and vitamin D. But if a mouse study is translatable to humans, we may have to add dietary fiber to that list. Fiber is broken down by some gut bacteria to form short chain fatty acids that prevent bone breakdown.
It's well known that menopause incurs many negative consequences, including hot flashes, bone loss and added weight in the abdominal area (visceral fat — the worst kind). Any of these can have negative health effects, and current treatment options such as drugs to prevent/treat osteoporosis don't do anything for added fat, or vice versa. But recent research in mice suggests that blocking the hormone FSH could greatly help.
A recent study, published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, finds that infertile men under the age of 50 are at an increased risk for developing osteoporosis as well as metabolic diseases, which include insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Osteoporosis, or decreased bone density, is a common condition seen in the aging population. While drug treatments do exist, they are not available to everyone and they have some negative side effects. So what's a person to do? Maybe yoga is the answer.
Vitamin D has been widely touted as a miracle" vitamin having a myriad of health effects beyond its basic function of enabling the absorption of calcium from food. Although vitamin D plays an important role in bone health and should be consumed in the form of
Because of its importance, experts have recommended that vitamin D supplements might be useful for improving bone density and perhaps preventing osteoporosis. But recent research, as we have noted, has not documented a bone benefit from vitamin D supplementation.
This report was prepared by Agnes Heinz, Ph.D., a former Director of Nutrition and Biochemistry with the American Council on Science and Health. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by substantial bone loss. When the extent of bone loss reaches a critical point fractures may occur as a result of very minor stress. Osteoporosis affects the entire skeleton, but fractures occur most notably in the vertebrae, hips and wrists.The bones become so weak that normal workloads overcome their capacity. A simple fall can result in a broken hip. Spinal vertebrae can collapse and in extreme cases cause a "dowager's hump."