Background Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematous, occur when the body attacks its own tissue because it cannot differentiate between self and non-self. This is mainly through deregulation of the immune system. Vitamin D has been known to play a critical role in bone mineralization and bone health. Activated vitamin…
I am a few weeks post-retirement. Having written thank you notes and completed urgent home projects, I swing in a hammock at our currently fire-threatened cabin north of Winthrop, Wash., and reflect. I feel like a young boy while freely flipping pages of a hand-scribed picture book, The Principles of Uncertainty, by Maira Kalman. She…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Although histomorphometry of iliac bone gives precise results, bone turnover markers provide a better reflection of the overall skeleton in untreated postmenopausal osteoporotic women, according to French researchers. Bone histomorphometry allows study of bone remodeling at the basic structural unit level, Dr. Pascale Chavassieux and colleagues at the University of Lyon note…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A body mass index (BMI) of less than 28 alone may be a tool to prescreen younger postmenopausal women for osteoporosis, according to a new study. “For young postmenopausal white women aged 50–64, current prescreening modalities identifying candidates for DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan … are not performing better than BMI alone,”…
(Reuters Health)—Total knee replacement can usually relieve pain and improve function, but a nonsurgical regimen can also be effective in some people without posing the complication risks of surgery, according to a new study. The study found that while 85% of patients who underwent surgery showed clinically-significant improvement after one year, so did 67% assigned…
New insights into bone cell biology—including the identification of parbendazole, a bone anabolic compound that promotes bone formation—may lead to better treatments for osteoporosis…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has toughened the existing warnings for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) due to their stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) risk increase.1 Due to a continual review of these products, FDA is requiring label updates for all prescription NSAIDs. Over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs already list the increased risk of MI and…
Prior to the widespread use of bisphosphonates for the management of osteoporosis, multiple myeloma and metastatic cancer to the skeletal system, osteonecrosis of the jawbones was an infrequent condition seen after radiation for oral cancers (osteoradionecrosis) and in chronic odontogenic infections.1 Since the mid-2000s, osteonecrosis of the jawbones has been noted to occur as a…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—More than 40% of patients with early inflammatory back pain suggestive of axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) show bone loss over the course of two years, according to French researchers. SpA is known to be associated with bone loss at the spine and the hip and an increased risk of vertebral fractures. To investigate…
Severe and disabling joint pain has been connected to the use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and combination therapies for diabetes, prompting a new FDA warning…