Osteoporosis Archive

There's a lot you can do, but Harvard researchers now say skipping your daily soda may also help.

There is a lot of good science to suggest we can do something positive when we become weak in the knees. Steps to prevent knee osteoarthritis include reducing the weight load on your knee by maintaining an ideal weight; avoiding activities that will overstress your knees, such as running; and beefing up the muscles that support your knee. Working on the quadriceps in the front of the thigh and the hamstrings in the back of the thigh can help absorb some of the stress on your knee.

Vitamin D supplements do not appear to be effective for reducing pain and slowing the progression of knee osteoarthritis.

Getting extra calcium from supplements is supposed to be good for your bones. The latest in a string of studies heightens concern that this simple practice could end up being bad for your heart. The results support growing recommendations to get calcium from food, not pills. The latest evidence comes from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which has followed the health of nearly 400,000 men and women since 1995. Over 12 years of follow-up, men who took more than 1,000 milligrams (mg) of daily supplemental calcium were 20% more likely to succumb to heart disease than those who didn’t take calcium supplements. There was no connection between calcium supplements and heart disease in women (which has been seen in earlier studies), and no connection with calcium from food. This one study isn’t enough to find calcium guilty of heart disease in the first degree. But it’s not the only research to point the accusing finger. This line of research has some experts placing greater emphasis on a nutritious, calcium-rich diet and weight bearing exercise than on calcium supplements for keeping bones strong.

The commonly used bone-strengthening drugs called bisphosphonates may provide the same level of benefit for men as they do for women. It appears the drug zoledronic acid (Reclast) significantly reduced spinal fractures in men with osteoporosis.

Acupuncture helps relieve chronic pain in the back, neck, and shoulders, as well as pain from osteoarthritis and headaches, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

To compare acupuncture with conventional pain therapy, researchers pooled the findings of 29 past studies involving nearly 18,000 people. The study revealed that some, but not all, of the pain relief was due to the placebo effect, in which people experience benefits from treatments that may not have a documented effect.

Injection therapy (also known as viscosupplementation) offers little relief from painful knee osteoarthritis, according to a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The therapy involves injections of hyaluronic acid, a substance found in joint fluid, to add cushioning in the knee joint and ease symptoms of "wear and tear" osteoarthritis.

Researchers pooled the findings of 89 studies of the injections, involving 12,667 people with knee arthritis. They calculated the overall effect on pain, painful "flare ups," and knee function. The analysis revealed minor improvements in pain and joint function, but noted a small increase in side effects from the injections, such as sudden pain, feeling of warmth, and swelling of the treated joint.

There are several good reasons to have cataracts fixed. Restoring clear, colorful vision certainly tops the list. A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) adds another benefit—a lower risk of breaking a hip. Researchers analyzed the effect of cataract surgery on the frequency of hip fracture in the following year. Among more than a million adults ages 65 and older who had cataracts, the frequency of hip fracture was 16% lower among those who had cataract surgery compared with those who didn’t have it, and the reduction in risk was even greater (23%) if the cataract was severe. Besides the immediate benefit of improved vision on everyday activities, and the longer-term one of preventing broken hips, cataract surgery may have other, less obvious benefits. These include more independence, better physical fitness, and better mental health.

One in four older men suffers a fracture.

Osteoporosis has long been thought of as a woman's disease. But older men should pay attention to the bone-thinning condition, too. An estimated two million American men have osteoporosis and another 12 million more may be at risk, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Once osteoporosis develops, men have the same increased risk for fractures as do women.

"Suffering a fracture when you're older means you're more likely to lose your independence, which can lead to other consequences," says Dr. Jill Paulson, an endocrinologist and instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. 

Should you stay on bisphosphonate drugs long-term?

You've probably read the news about a recent FDA analysis that questioned whether women with osteoporosis should stay on bisphosphonate drugs for more than five years. If you've been taking these drugs long-term, you might be wondering, "What do I do now?"

"I think this is a very important issue, and certainly one that patients should talk to their physician about," says Dr. Meryl LeBoff, director of the Skeletal Health and Osteoporosis Center and Bone Density Unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has stirred up a maelstrom of debate by proposing that healthy postmenopausal women lay off daily calcium and vitamin D supplements, which the task force says may do more harm than good. The USPSTF concluded that, based on the available evidence, supplements containing up to 400 IU of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium don’t reduce fractures in postmenopausal women. Plus, these supplements may slightly increase the risk of kidney stones. As a result, the USPSTF says that postmenopausal women who aren’t at risk for osteoporosis shouldn’t be taking these supplements to prevent fractures. The jury is still out on whether it’s worth it for women and men to take higher doses of calcium and vitamin D to prevent fractures, or to take vitamin D to prevent cancer. Our experts say that most of your daily calcium should come from your kitchen, not your medicine chest.