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.

Millennium Research Group (MRG), finds that 25% of the 150 orthopedic surgeons surveyed in its newest Physician Forum publication plan to reduce their usage of metal-on-metal hip implants over the next twelve months.  

Metal-on-metal hip implants have been the subject of close media scrutiny in recent months due to reports of metal debris and soft-tissue damage resulting in revision surgeries in some patients.

For the full story, click here.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals reported promising results for bazedoxifene from a placebo-controlled Phase 3 study. The drug, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), is under clinical investigation for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The trial of bazedoxifene 20 mg indicated a significant reduction in new vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

HealthpointCapital is currently running a series of blog posts in an attempt to answer the question: How will the credit crunch impact the orthopedic market?

The entire article, a conversation between Robin Young and John McCormick, is definitely worth a read, here’s just a small snippet:

“Taking the capital markets perspective, orthopedic stocks are nowhere near as badly shaken as the S&P 500 or – good grief – financials for that matter. Looking at some superficial fundamentals, in 1H:08 there has been encouraging revenue growth (currency gains notwithstanding) in the industry broadly. Importantly, the industry in aggregate is profitable and not leveraged. Without question, I’d rather be an employee of Zimmer versus Lehman Brothers right now.”

Read the full article here.