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Heart Disease Ruins Bones: Osteoporosis and Heart Disease Linked
It’s almost comical how mainstream medicine has cordoned human disease into specialties and yet the human body metaphorically thumbs its nose at the idea that systems act in isolation. Every system effects every other system.
We see this time and time again. Heart disease patients who also have colorectal cancer. Patients with stomach complaints that also have osteoporosis. My favorite is diabetes and cardiovascular disease. From my viewpoint, there is no difference between heart disease and diabetes. If this sounds strange, consider that 70% of diabetics die of cardiovascular complications, and almost every single cardiovascular patient has signs that they are either diabetic are heading towards diabetes. The lifestyle changes to prevent diabetes are the same ones that will protect the heart.
Which then brings us to this particular study. Researchers looked at the rate of osteoporotic fractures in patients who were being treated for heart failure and found an increased risk (about 33% after all other risk factors for fractures were accounted for).
Just pointing out the association is important and will hopefully wake up clinicians who do not view treatment of a patient from a whole body perspective. I have never had a patient diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis who was given any information beyond the drugs available and take some more calcium. Rarely is vitamin D even touched on, let alone other lifestyle related factors that contribute to bone destruction.
The researchers however, in their conclusion, demonstrate that they just don’t get it. The conclusion is that this means that patients with heart failure should be screened more often for osteoporosis and given more drugs.
UGH!!
These conditions are on the same trajectory! They are not separate disease entities that need to be treated independently by another litany of drugs. We need to understand that poor lifestyle changes lead to EVERY disease and that fixing the lifestyle is key, NOT medicating the symptoms! (Ok..I feel much better now…)
INFLAMMATION IS A MAJOR PLAYER IN OSTEOPOROSIS – (04-04-05)
Increased Prevalence of Celiac Disease and need for Routine Screening among patients with Osteoporosis
Remember that celiac disease is an allergy to the gluten portion in grains, principally wheat. This study found a direct correlation with the severity of celiac disease serum markers and the severity of osteoporosis. We already know that inflammation is a player in osteoporosis and that celiac disease up-regulates the immune system, so I guess the results of this study shouldn’t be a surprise.
The author suggests that the prevalence of patients with osteoporosis that have celiac disease is high enough to warrant routine screening.
LIFESTYLE FACTORS DETERMINE DEVELOPMENT OF BONE MASS – (04-04-05)
Lifestyle factors and the development of bone mass and bone strength in young women
Geez, I hate to see articles that support what I’ve been saying for years… I would have to say, that, of all the myths I bring to light in the community and my office, few receive more resistance than the idea that dairy is actually, at best, neutral, and at worst, harmful.
This article, while small, did not find that calcium intake had any impact on bone development (milk for bone health, anyone? Did see THIS one in the mainstream press, did you?). Number one beneficial item? Exercise.
CALCIUM, DAIRY PRODUCTS AND BONE HEALTH IN CHILDREN – (05-01-05)
Calcium, Dairy Products, and Bone Health in Children and Young Adults: A Reevaluation of the Evidence
I have said before that, of everything I bring up when I am speaking to the public, my position on dairy receives the most disbelief–some bordering on anger. But, I still contend that the marketing of dairy in the presence of marginal (at best) research to support its use remains one of the top few successes in my lifetime.
HRT was another one at the top of the list. I always remind people I speak with of two things: cows don’t drink milk for their calcium, and we are the only mammalian creature that continues to drink milk after we’re weaned (with the exception of cats–and that’s because we give it to them).
XYLITOL HAS BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON BONE MASS – (04-25-05)
Simultaneous dietary administration of xylitol and ethanol on bone resorption
Not quite sure what the practical aspects are of this one, but I thought it was interesting. Xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar that is found in foods like fruits that is known to have a positive effect on dental health. Bacteria in the mouth cannot use xylitol to produce acids that destroy dental enamel, so xylitol containing items like gum have been shown to lower the incidence of dental caries. But I was unaware that xylitol also had a beneficial effect on bone mass by slowing down bone breakdown.
This study combined xylitol with ethanol (ethanol lowers bone mass by speeding up breakdown) and found a much greater decrease in bone breakdown because the ethanol keeps more xylitol in the bloodstream. No quite sure where to go with this one–maybe xylitol in your wine to boost bone health???
LIFESTYLE – ONE OF THE FACTOR IN BONE HEALTH – (05-08-05)
Ratio of n–6 to n–3 fatty acids and bone mineral density in older adults
Wow..will you look at that? Yet another study that has absolutely nothing to do with dairy and yet shows a protective effect on bone. I’m really not making this stuff up.
This article once again supports lifestyle as a factor in bone health, with higher omega-6 fatty acids when compared to omega-3 showing lower bone density.
OSTEOPOROSIS – A DISEASE OF LIFESTYLE – (05-08-05)
Low dietary potassium intakes and high dietary estimates of net endogenous acid production are associated with low bone mineral density in premenopausal women and increased markers of bone resorption in postmenopausal women
So, if dairy is not the answer, you query…than where does osteoporosis come from? It is a disease of lifestyle.
This article is a wonderful reminder of how deficiencies in the Western diet can really wreak long term havoc on our health. Potassium helps to buffer the acids that we take in while eating a highly refined, animal based diet. Without adequate potassium the body can use calcium to buffer these acids, resulting in net loss of bone.
SUPPLEMENT CALCIUM AND VITAMIN D3 TO PREVENT FRACTURES – (05-23-05)
Calcium and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) for prevention of fractures
Doesn’t this appear to fly in the face of what “they” tell us? If you read the above article, and if you realized that osteoporosis is a disease of lifestyle that will not be fixed with only one or two approaches, than the above article should come as no surprise.
Osteoporosis prevention/treatment needs to consist of a plant based diet (to achieve an alkaline balance rather than acid balance), supplements to include adequate vit D (see above!) and calcium (along with a good bone support formula to contain micronutrients such as molybdenum, strontium, magnesium…) and weight bearing exercise.
Regular readers will of course, not be surprised that I left out dairy. Which is ironic, because that would probably be the first thing most people would list as was to prevent osteoporosis. Remember that the literature is weak, and any studies showing a positive effect have usually not adjusted for Vit D intake, and that dairy, as we know it today, is fraught with many negative health consequences.
HOW TO PROTECT BONE HEALTH? – (11-05-07)
n–3 Fatty acids are positively associated with peak bone mineral density and bone accrual in healthy men
This raises some interesting questions. It is well accepted (in the research, anyway…) that inflammation is a major player in bone loss. Increased inflammation (notably increased levels of TNF-alpha, a key player in inflammation) increases the number of osteoclasts–the cells that break down bone. This leads to an increase in the breakdown in bone without balanced building up of bone.
But this study evaluated the fatty acids of younger men. I would generally consider breaking the “inflammation cascade” as being effective in an older population, and would think that increased bone breakdown would be less of an issue in younger patients. So either my thinking is off, and inflammation is a player much earlier then we would think (which is scary in and of itself) or there is another mechanism at work. Either way, increased intake of healthier fats coupled with solid Vit D intake (supplemental or sun) will go a long way towards protecting bone health.
WHAT’S THE WORST POSSIBLE COMBINATION FOR BONE HEALTH? – (09-17-07)
Effect of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors on the Risk of Fracture
What’s the worst possible combination for bone health? Poor bone mineral density coupled with an increased risk of falling. Now guess what? You can get all this in one easy pill!!
Even more fearful, this study was done on elderly subjects. What will happen to the bones of teens put on antidepressants for years? We probably won’t have specifics for decades. On the contrary, fish oils, exercise and vitamin D are all well known to help fight off depression as well as build bone mass. This seems like an easy decision to me.
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