LifeCare Chiropractic

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Osteoporosis Cures and Bone Health

Calcium supplementation of chocolate: effect on digestibility and lipids – (02-08-01)

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Calcium supplementation of chocolate: effect on digestibility and lipids

This article examines the effects of adding calcium to chocolate to lower the absorption of the fat. The addition of calcium carbonate lowered the absorption of lipids without affecting the taste. A few things to consider here. First, we all know that, if we knew a particular type of chocolate had less absorbable fat, we would just eat MORE of it (bottom line…by stock in Hershey’s). Next, what does this tell you about how effective calcium carbonate is at getting into our bones, where we need it? Not very effective is lipids can effect its absorption.

AJCN — Abstracts: Shahkhalili et al. 73 (2): 246

Read entire article here

Vit C Use and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women – (01-22-01)

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Vit C Use and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women

I am a very big fan of the use of Vit C for bone health because Vit C is essential for laying down ground substance, the framework upon which bone and cartilage is built. Interestingly, the average intake was 745 mg; much, much higher than the RDA.

J Bone Miner Res 2001 Jan;16(1):135-40 vitamin C is known to stimulate procollagen, enhance collagen synthesis, and stimulate alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker for osteoblast formation. Studies of dietary vitamin C intake and the relation with bone mineral density (BMD) have been conflicting, probably because of the well-known limitations of dietary nutrient assessment questionnaires. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the independent relation of daily vitamin C supplement use with BMD in a population-based sample of postmenopausal women. Subjects were 994 women from a community-based cohort of whom 277 women were regular vitamin C supplement users. vitamin C supplement use was validated. Daily vitamin C supplement intake ranged from 100 to 5,000 mg; the mean daily dose was 745 mg. Average duration of use was 12.4 years; 85% had taken vitamin C supplements for more than 3 years. BMD levels were measured at the ultradistal and midshaft radii, hip, and lumbar spine. After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), and total calcium intake, vitamin C users had BMD levels approximately 3% higher at the midshaft radius, femoral neck, and total hip (p < 0.05). In a fully adjusted model, significant differences remained at the femoral neck (p < 0.02) and marginal significance was observed at the total hip (p < 0.06). Women taking both estrogen and vitamin C had significantly higher BMD levels at all sites. Among current estrogen users, those also taking vitamin C had higher BMD levels at all sites, with marginal significance achieved at the ultradistal radius (p < 0.07), femoral neck (p < 0.07), and total hip (p < 0.09). Women who took vitamin C plus calcium and estrogen had the highest BMD at the femoral neck (p = 0.001), total hip (p = 0.05), ultradistal radius (p = 0.02), and lumbar spine. vitamin C supplement use appears to have a beneficial effect on levels of BMD, especially among postmenopausal women using concurrent estrogen therapy and calcium supplements.

The Hip Bone is Connected to the…Testis??????

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Ok.  I KNOW that the body is wildly interconnected.  But some connections are too incredible to be believed at first glance.

I recently wrote a blog article about how weight gain is not one of the low T symptoms, but rather, weight gain leads to lower testosterone levels.  So you know that hormone levels are directly related to lifestyle choices.  Certainly the reverse can be true, where off-kilter hormone levels can create health problems.  But more often, poor lifestyle choices throw off the balance of your hormones.

When it comes to your bones, as little as 15 years ago the view of what your bones do was limited to an attachment site for muscles so you can move.  Pretty inert.  They basically just sit there doing nothing, until, of course, they fracture and create a problem and pain.

Then all hell broke loose.

We now have a drastically different view of bone.  It is a highly active tissue at the heart of some very important physiological processes.  Here’s what I’ve written about in the past:

  1. Serotonin from the gut (the body’s main source of this neurotransmitter) will actually stop bone cells called osteoblasts from building more bone.
  2. Osteoblasts secrete a hormone called osteocalcin.  More osteoblasts = more bone = more osteocalcin released.
  3. Osteocalcin has an effect on abdominal fat and lowers your risk of diabetes.

This is already a pretty impressive list.  And it’s about to get a little bit bigger.

In this particular study (which was a mouse study, so keep this in mind), researchers found that osteocalcin had an effect on the Leydig cells in the testis.  These cells produce testosterone.

Good bone health drives testosterone levels.  Go back in time to 1995 and mention this to any researcher looking into bone and they would think you’re crazy.  Heck–when I mention this to people today, they still think I’m crazy.

But look at what this means.  We already know that healthy behaviors, as well as the opposite behaviors, affect testosterone levels as was described in a recent blog article that can be read by clicking here.

But just how deep this link is what shocks me.  It’s not a matter of getting the right nutrients, vitamins and minerals so you can make testosterone.  Rather, a healthy lifestyle may produce optimal testosterone levels through the gut-bone-testis axis.

Further, this means that merely taking natural hormone treatments will do absolutely NOTHING to the problem at hand.  In other words, the poor bone health seems to drive low T levels, but the reverse is not true–giving testosterone will not miraculously improve bone health.

Which further reinforces the fact that, if you have symptoms of low T, lifestyle is your ONLY answer.  Supplementation  / replacement is a train wreck waiting to happen.

Bone turnover markers and sex hormones in men with osteoporosis – (06-07-01)

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Bone turnover markers and sex hormones in men with osteoporosis

There are a few nice take home ideas here. First, the concept that there are tests other then bone densitography studies to assess bone health is clear here. Urine markers of bone metabolism have been used in research for many years to assess the effectiveness of various therapies. These tests are simple and available through many physicians’ offices. Second, I know many men do not like the idea that we have “female” hormones circulating around. Not only is this true (although the levels are very different) but deficiencies can lead to adverse health outcomes. This study found decreased estradiol (one type of estrogen) and increased sex hormone binding globulin-leaving less available testosterone to do its job. A salivary hormone profile is warranted in every male with osteoporosis.

Synergy : European Journal of Clinical Investigation 31 (5), 444-451

Read entire article here

Some HRT Regimens May Increase Risk of Postmenopausal Stroke – (01-08-01)

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Some HRT Regimens May Increase Risk of Postmenopausal Stroke

Okay, okay…so why would someone want to take HRT again?? I just cannot figure it out. Reasons for taking HRT are several. Lowering risk of heart disease is one of these reasons; and yet research may indeed be pointing to an INCREASED risk for CVD with HRT use. Prevention of osteoporosis is another reason; HRT does not fix osteoporosis, it just slows its progression. Osteoporosis starts decades earlier and does not suddenly start at menopause. Try less animal proteins, more fruits and veggies, soy products, high quality calcium supplements and exercise to reduce and maybe even reverse osteoporosis.

Ann Intern Med 2000;133:933-941,999-1001 Twenty years of prospective follow-up in the Nurses’ Health Study shows that daily estrogen doses of 0.625 mg or higher plus progestin may increase the risk of stroke by up to 45%. Dr. Grodstein’s group found that that the age-adjusted relative risk of a major coronary event was 0.54 for current users of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) compared with women who never used HRT. While they observed little overall difference in the relative risk of stroke among users and non-users of HRT, stroke risk varied by daily estrogen dose. Stroke risk was lower among women who received estrogen at 0.3 mg/d compared who those who took 0.625 or 1.25 mg/d. And among women taking 0.625 mg/d of estrogen combined with progestin, the authors observed a 45% higher risk of stroke compared with those who never took HRT. In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Deborah Grady and Stephen B. Hulley, of the University of California at San Francisco, sugg! est that “hormone therapy may have mixed effects, causing thrombotic events while improving the lipoprotein profile.” If that is the case, they speculate that prothrombotic activity may be more damaging to the small vessels of the cerebrovascular circulation than to the larger vessels of the coronary circulation.

Ibuprofen Side Effects: Osteopororis Now on the List

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Ok. I’ll admit it—I’m no fan of anti-inflammatories. The list of side effects is far longer than most doctors realize.

Despite how long the list already is, there is always room for more negative effects when it comes to drugs that interfere with the way your body functions. (In case you’re not familiar with the long list already, feel free to check out my eBook on the dangers of NSAIDs)

This particular article adds bone density problems to the potential list of side effects of ibuprofen and its ilk. The author is looking at the physiological pathways by which NSAIDs could contribute to bone density problems and not summarizing an actual study linking anti-inflammatory drugs with low bone density. Because of this, we can’t say with certainty that ibuprofen side effects will include low bone density, but it certainly makes sense.

Here’s how it works:

Inflammation is needed for both new bone formation and old bone breakdown. Bone is essentially really tough soft tissue, and in a previous blog article I look at evidence linking NSAIDs and poor soft tissue healing after surgery. So it would make sense that NSAIDs would also effect bone healing.

The problem is that we are always breaking down bone and repairing it. Exercise causes microfractures in bone that the body then has to go in and repair. This is one way that exercise improves bone density.

In addition, chronic use of NSAIDs will, ironically, lead to inflammation in the gut. Inflammation in the gut will lead to more serotonin, which, in turn, has been linked to lower numbers of osteoblasts (the cells that build bone).

Pretty crazy web, huh?

Overall, you need to really understand that the use, acute OR chronic, of anti-inflammatoy medications comes with a price, and this price is likely to be far greater than what you took it for in the first place.

 

HRT and Prevention of Nonvertebral Fractures – (06-25-01)

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HRT and Prevention of Nonvertebral Fractures

Remember that the effect that HRT has on bone loss is not a cure…it only slows the loss. Osteoporosis, just like any other chronic disease, has many causes and all of these need to be addressed and can be addressed using natural therapeutics–phytoestrogens (soy, flax, whole grains…), exercise, plant based diets, calcium, magnesium and many other nutrients.

Hormone Replacement Therapy and Prevention of Nonvertebral Fractures: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Trials.

Read entire article here

Ipriflavone in the Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis – (04-23-01)

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Ipriflavone in the Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

I’ve quite frequently expressed by views towards using whole foods whenever possible. Nature put certain compounds into our food that can interact positively with each other. By trying to isolate and mass produce the believed active ingredient we may be missing out on the interactions of these substances working together to achieve the best clinical response with the least amount of side effects. I firmly believe that soy is the same way–we are abusing the key components of soy. And remember that the approach to today’s chronic diseases requires attacking the problem from all angles–not just one aspect.

Ipriflavone in the Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Read entire article here