Lodotra – a unique modified-release formulation designed to be taken before bed and release low-dose prednisone in the early hours when inflammatory cytokines peak – achieves clinically significant improvements in ACR20, morning stiffness and pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to results from clinical trials presented at the 11th Annual European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) congress.

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According to Phyllis Edwards, certified bone densitometry technologist and nutritionist with Bio-Imaging Osteoporosis Outreach Services, said that weight loss can often lead to bone loss, especially in people who go through cycles of losing weight and then gaining it back. “Many people lose bone mass when they lose weight.. This pattern for losing weight can jeopardize your bone health in later life, particularly if you already have risk factors for osteoporosis. This includes men,” Edwards added.

Prolia, a new injectable drug to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk of fractures has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The federal agency has announced that approving Prolia, made by Amgen, offers postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk of fractures another treatment option. Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bone and makes it more likely to break.

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In a discovery that seems counterintuitive, a study appearing in the May 21st Journal of Biological Chemistry has found that tendons in high-stress and strain areas, like the Achilles tendon, actually repair themselves less frequently than low-stress tendons. This study sheds some light on the increased susceptibility of certain tendons to injury during aging. Tendons, composed of collagen and other proteins, serve to connect muscle to bone and thus are vital for movement.

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In the March 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, new research suggests that widely used osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates do not boost women’s risk for femur or thigh fractures, which is something prior studies had suggested.

Bisphosphonates are the main class of drugs used to treat osteoporosis. Bisphosphonates include medications such as Boniva (ibandronate), Fosamax (alendronate) and Reclast (zoledronic acid).

The study was funded by was funded by the pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Merck, which both make bisphosphonates.

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Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have discovered the third in a sequence of genes that accounts for previously unexplained forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetic condition that weakens bones and results in frequent fractures. The newly identified gene contains the information needed to make the protein Cyclophilin B. This protein is part of a complex of three proteins that modifies collagen, folding it into a precise molecular configuration.

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According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), fat mass is important in increasing bone size and thickness, but this effect appears to be stronger in girls than boys. This new study shows that fat mass is a strong stimulus for the accrual of cortical bone mass (hard outer layer of bone) in girls.

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Foundation Surgical Hospital of San Antonio has announced it has brought MAKOplasty®, a minimally iorthopedic knee procedure, to San Antonio. Foundation Surgical Hospital is the only hospital in San Antonio — and the second of only three hospitals in Texas — providing MAKOplasty partial knee resurfacing, an innovative and minimally invasive surgical solution that enables orthopedic surgeons to treat patients with early to mid-stage osteoarthritis of the knee before it has impacted their entire knee.

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Research has shown a clear connection between depression and a loss of bone mass, leading to osteoporosis and fractures. Researchers of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that a link between depression and bone loss is particularly strong among young women. Osteoporosis is the most widespread degenerative disease in the developed world. Sufferers experience decrease in bone density, which often leads to bone fractures. In many cases, these fractures cause severe disability and even death.

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In a study of more than 200 women ages 46 to 65, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that the soy supplement did not appear to ward off bone-density loss over 3 years. In general, women on the supplement showed the same degree of bone loss as those given a placebo — though there was some evidence that a higher dose helped protect bone density in the hip.