Drinking Alcohol Decreases Risk of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease where bone tissue thins and its density decreases over time. This condition leads to an increased risk of bone fracture.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Osteoporosis as a bone mineral density that is 2.5 standard deviations or more below the mean peak bone mass (average of young, healthy adults) as measured by DXA; the term "established osteoporosis" includes the presence of a fragility fracture.

Osteoporosis is the most common type of bone disease.

It is estimated that about 1 out of 5 American women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis. Around 50% of all women over the age of 50 will have a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra (bones of the spine).

Osteoporosis occurs when the body fails to form enough new bone, when too much old bone is reabsorbed by the body, or both.

New study suggests moderate alcohol consumption may help prevent bone loss

Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol as part of a healthy lifestyle may benefit women's bone health, lowering their risk of developing osteoporosis.

A new study assessed the effects of alcohol withdrawal on bone turnover in postmenopausal women who drank one or two drinks per day several times a week. Researchers at Oregon State University measured a significant increase in blood markers of bone turnover in women after they stopped drinking for just two weeks.

Bones are in a constant state of remodeling with old bone being removed and replaced. In people with osteoporosis, more bone is lost than reformed resulting in porous, weak bones. About 80 percent of all people with osteoporosis are women, and postmenopausal women face an even greater risk because estrogen, a hormone that helps keep bone remodeling in balance, decreases after menopause.

MIT News: Nanoparticle Coating Help Hip And Knee Implant Last Longer

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles are incorporated
 into multilayer coatings for faster bone tissue growth.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Every year, more than a million Americans receive an artificial hip or knee prosthesis. Such implants are designed to last many years, but in about 17 percent of patients who receive a total joint replacement, the implant eventually loosens and has to be replaced early, which can cause dangerous complications for elderly patients.

To help minimize these burdensome operations, a team of MIT chemical engineers has developed a new coating for implants that could help them better adhere to the patient’s bone, preventing premature failure.

“This would allow the implant to last much longer, to its natural lifetime, with lower risk of failure or infection,” says Paula Hammond, the David H. Koch Professor in Engineering at MIT and senior author of a paper on the work appearing in the journal Advanced Materials.

The coating, which induces the body’s own cells to produce bone that fixes the implant in place, could also be used to help heal fractures and to improve dental implants, according to Hammond and lead author Nisarg Shah, a graduate student in Hammond’s lab.

An alternative to bone cement

Artificial hips consist of a metal ball on a stem, connecting the pelvis and femur. The ball rotates within a plastic cup attached to the inside of the hip socket. Similarly, artificial knees consist of plates and a stem that enable movement of the femur and tibia. To secure the implant, surgeons use bone cement, a polymer that resembles glass when hardened. In some cases, this cement ends up cracking and the implant detaches from the bone, causing chronic pain and loss of mobility for the patient.

Osteoporosis Medication May Cause Serious Eye Disease

A study suggests that first time users of a drug used to prevent osteoporosis may increase the risk of serious eye disease.

Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones where the bone tissue thins and bone density decreases over time. This leads to an increased risk of bone fracture. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Osteoporosis as a bone mineral density that is 2.5 standard deviations or more below the mean peak bone mass (average of young, healthy adults) as measured by DXA; the term "established osteoporosis" includes the presence of a fragility fracture.

Osteoporosis is the most common type of bone disease.

It is estimated that about 1 out of 5 American women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis. Around 50% of all women over the age of 50 will have a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra (bones of the spine).

Osteoporosis occurs when the body fails to form enough new bone, when too much old bone is reabsorbed by the body, or both.

Some causes for osteoporosis are:

• Long periods of bed confinement
• Chronic rheumatoid arthritis, chronic kidney disease, eating disorders
• Taking corticosteroid medications (prednisone, methylprednisolone) every day for more than 3 months, or taking some antiseizure drugs
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Vitamin D deficiency

Some medications that are used to treat osteoporosis are:

• Bisphosphonates - primary drugs used to both prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
• Calcitonin - slows the rate of bone loss and relieves bone pain.
• Parathyroid Hormone - Teriparatide (Forteo) is approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women who have severe osteoporosis and are considered at high risk for fractures.
• Raloxifene (Evista) - used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Raloxifene is similar to the breast cancer drug tamoxifen

Increased Risk of Eye Disease

Drugs that are commonly used to prevent osteoporosis may increase the risk of serious inflammatory eye disease in first-time users, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Oral bisphosphonates, the most commonly prescribed class of drugs used to prevent osteoporosis, have been linked to adverse events such as unusual fractures, irregular heartbeat, and esophageal and colon cancer. Some case reports have shown an association between these drugs and anterior uveitis and scleritis, inflammatory eye diseases that can seriously affect vision.