LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Osteoporosis Cures and Bone Health

Fatty Acids as Biochemical, Molecular Modulators of Bone – (01-03-02)

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Fatty Acids as Biochemical, Molecular Modulators of Bone

This article gives some physiological background for the finding that omega-3 fatty acids protect against osteoporosis. While this article does not have me jumping up and down in excitement, hopefully it will begin to break the back of the “osteoporosis = calcium deficiency” fallacy. This is a concept created and perpetuated by such big money organizations as the dairy industry. Osteoporosis is a disease of lifestyle, and calcium is but one of the many factors that plays into its progression or recovery.

Fatty Acids and Bone Biology.

 

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Exercise, bone health and oral contraceptive use – (07-09-01)

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Exercise, bone health and oral contraceptive use

This article finds that, although exercise is known to increase bone mass, this effect is not seen with women taking oral contraceptives. I know contraception is a tough issue from a health care practitioner standpoint because the reasons why women choose the birth control pill, but the BCP does unquestionably have some adverse health effects. Increased risk of blood clots is still present even in the “new generation” BCP. The BCP increases insulin resistance which can have major health impacts on many women. And now we see that it interferes with a woman’s ability to add bone mass through exercise. Remember this the next time you read an article or hear someone talking about eradicating women’s periods. I almost get ill with the thought of the arrogance that doctors have in regards to what Mother Nature thought was needed…

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins – Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

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Weight Loss Program Focuses on WHAT Organ System??

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Ok.  We’ve got a big obesity problem in the US.  And while there are any number of diet plans to try to lose weight, none I’ve come across address this organ system.

The human body does not function in systems.  It’s not like your cardiology system completely ignores your dermatological system, or your neurological system does not ignore the gastrointestinal system.  You get the idea.

So how did medicine ever decide that this was a good idea?  To blissfully think that your heart condition has no effect on your GI tract is dangerous and misguided.  Pretty much every chronic disease has multiple other chronic diseases associated with it.

So how does this relate to this particular article?  Bone produces a hormone called osteocalcin.  Osteocalcin is produced specifically by cells called osteoblasts.  Osteoblasts build bone.  This means that when bone is healthy it will secrete osteocalcin.  Osteocalcin than acts on the beta cells of the pancreas to release more insulin as well as act on fat cells to release an anti-diabetic hormone called adiponectin.  Some research even suggests that osteocalcin has the ability to increase the release of testosterone.

Pretty connected, huh?

But what happens when bone health is poor and osteocalcin levels go down?  Following these connections, poor bone health will lead to abdominal fat, weight gain and diabetes.

Wait…Poor bone health leads to diabetes??

With this as background, let’s go back to this particular study.  Researchers looked at the relationship between osteocalcin levels on fat free body mass and found a clear association.  The higher the osteocalcin levels, the lower the body fat.

Good bone health = lower body fat.

Do you toss the Atkin’s diet book and buy a book on improving bone health (preferably mine, which can be found by clicking here)?

The reality is that improving your overall health will, automatically, improve bone health.  Pretty cool.  But, before you think it’s that easy, you need to know that the presence of inflammation and stress in your gut will result in the release of more serotonin which will slow osteoblast activity.

Pretty connected, huh?

Calcium and Heart Disease; What’s the Real Story?

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Sorry if I’m a little late on getting to this one, but I get to the studies as soon as I can.  When this study was released, there was quite a bit of hubub about calcium supplementation increasing the risk of heart disease.

In overview, this particular study found that, in men who took calcium supplements, there was a 20% increased risk of dying from cardiovascular causes. On the surface, this sounds a little scary and is vaguely reminiscent of the vitamin E and heart disease controversy, which I have reviewed in a previous blog post that can be read by clicking here.

It is likely that, as a result of this study, many doctors will tell their male (and possibly female) patients to stop taking calcium supplements. As is usually the case, this movement by physicians is likely to confuse patients and reinforce the mantra that what is “healthy” keeps changing. Here’s the problem…

We shouldn’t have been recommending calcium supplements anyway to our patients.

What?? According to the TUMS commercials, I need the extra calcium! And I need to wash down the calcium supplements with a tall glass of milk for healthy bones.

News flash: The research does NOT support the use of calcium supplements to lower your risk of fractures above and beyond what you will get from a good quality diet. This means that you probably should not have been taking calcium in the first place, making the results of this study moot. Just in case you think I’m crazy, here’s a few studies to back up this position. Note that some of these are older–this is not new information:

You get the point.

Ok. So calcium supplementation isn’t going to help your bones, but it’s not going to hurt, right? Wrong. An important transporter needed for healthy heart function requires both magnesium and calcium. With higher levels of calcium that are NOT backed up by comparable levels of magnesium (a very common mineral deficiency), heart rhythm problems may occur. Thus, the supplementation of lower quality forms of calcium that do not have good quality magnesium as well, could potentially lead to cardiac problems if the diet is magnesium deficient.

The bottom line?  Skip the calcium supplements.  Instead, opt for solid vitamin D supplementation and a good quality diet loaded with seeds and green leafies to make sure the calcium is there for your body to absorb.

Cyclo-Oxygenase 2 Function Is Essential for Bone Fracture Healing – (10-03-02)

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Cyclo-Oxygenase 2 Function Is Essential for Bone Fracture Healing

This is a clinical decision nightmare. The newest arsenal in the fight against arthritis pain is the highly overused class of drugs called COX-2 selective inhibitors (Celebrex, Vioxx). These are supposed to be safer on the GI tract. Recent concerns have arisen over potential damage to the heart with their use, and now we see that the COX-2 enzyme is needed for proper bone healing. How many patients out there are improperly given the selective COX-2 inhibitors for pain relief following joint replacement surgery or fracture? Have to admit that those pharmaceutical reps are doing a good job pushing off-label uses for their drugs!

Read entire article here

Modest Weight Training Improves Bone Strength in Older Men, Women – (10-10-02)

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Modest Weight Training Improves Bone Strength in Older Men, Women

This nice thing about this article is that it really stresses how much a simple exercise program can impact the health of our elderly. I know that in my office, the patients that exercise regularly (strength training and aerobic) are in overall much better health–better mobility and less (if any medication) use.

24th annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research

A modest weight training program done twice a week helps improve bone mineral density (BMD) in older men and women, according to findings presented here at the 24th annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. The study involved 49 men and 78 women between the ages of 60 to 71 years, who were assigned to several different training regimens for a total of 40 weeks of training. Participants exercised either two or three times a week, and lifted either heavier loads with fewer repetitions or lighter loads with more repetitions. According to Dr. Micahel Bemben of the University of Oklahoma, if subjects lifted 40% of their strength, they did 16 repetitions in three sets, and if they lifted 80% of their strength, they did eight repetitions in three sets. Subjects were matched in terms of the amount of work done in each training session. Results at 40 weeks showed that men responded to the training with a significant increase in BMD of the spine and both men and women had significant increases in hip BMD. Total body BMD also increased significantly in women at the end of the 40-week training program. Participants also had “big improvements” in their strength such that at the end of 40 weeks, “they were lifting a fair amount of weight,” Dr. Bemben said. “We think older people have more time but they are just as busy as younger people if not busier, and at least for bone data, it didn’t seem to matter whether they exercised two or three times a week or whether they worked with high loads or load loads,” Dr. Bemben. “So it’s probably fair to say that you could hope to see at least maintenance [of bone strength] lifting lighter loads at 40% of your strength, twice a week.”

 

Fitness, fatness, activity as predictors of bone density in older persons – (12-19-02)

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Fitness, fatness, activity as predictors of bone density in older persons

This article may be surprising to some, but really fits right in with research that has been piling up in regards to exercise in our senior population. This study does not show a protective effect of light aerobic exercise on bone mass. This supports the need for weight/resistance training in all age groups. I’ve really began pushing the addition of this type of training in all my senior patients. I do find that the more exercise a patient does as they get older, the healthier, happier and less medicated they are. My favorite story I like to relay is about Jim, a patient in his upper 70′s. He relays how much weight he lifts daily in the thousands of pounds (all added up, it’s not an unrealistic number at all). He has arthritis but never feels it, no medications and is mentally as alert as any fifty year old.

Synergy Abstract

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Bone mineral density and dietary patterns in older adults – (07-01-02)

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Bone mineral density and dietary patterns in older adults

Here’s another one of those studies…we see dairy intake as a part of one of the groups studied. However, in the author’s conclusions, the dairy group was casually not mentioned. In other words, dairy was not as effective as fruit and vegetables in maintaining healthy bone mass. Go figure. I still consider dairy consumption for bone health as being one of the largest dupes ever pushed over on the American consumer. A true testament to the concept that “he who holds the money makes the rules,” even if the rules are not founded in scientific fact.

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