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.

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.

For the full story, Click Here

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.

A recent study, conducted by researchers at University of Rochester Medical Center and presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Denver, indicated that a drug already approved to heal bone loss from osteoporosis may also help to prevent and reverse the damage to cartilage that leads to osteoarthritis. Currently, there are no drugs to treat cartilage loss in osteoarthritis, a condition that’s expected to affect some 50 million Americans by 2020. Parathyroid hormone, sold as the prescription drug teriparatide (Forteo), is already approved by the FDA to maintain and heal bone, and earlier studies have suggested that it also affects cartilage cells.

An osteoporosis drug proven to save lives after hip fractures may do so by strengthening the body’s immune system, according to geriatrics researchers at Duke University Medical Center. In 2007, Duke researchers reported a 28% reduction in death among patients who received zoledronic acid (Reclast) within 90 days of surgery for a hip fracture. Zoledronic acid is a yearly intravenous injection of bisphosphonate that inhibits the progression of bone loss. The researchers also reported that the 2,111 people who participated in the study were 35% less likely to suffer another fracture.

According to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine published on September 22, dieting with calorie restriction does not cause significant bone loss in young, overweight adults, provided adequate amounts of calcium and other nutrients are maintained. “Our data do not support the notion that extreme weight loss (more than 10%) over short periods (3 months) has a worse prognosis on bone health than gradual weight loss achieved over 6 months by moderate calorie restriction with or without aerobic exercise,” Dr. Leanne M. Redman, from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and colleagues conclude.

The study published in the Nature Genetics journal found that a single-letter variation (SNP) in the gene that encodes a protein, called claudin 14, increases the risk of bone loss and kidney stones by boosting the excretion of calcium in urine. According to the researchers, the 60% percent of humans carrying two copies of this SNP on chromosome 21 have a 65% higher risk of developing kidney stones than those with no copies of the SNP. The CEO of deCODE Genetics, Kari Stefansson, said that the variant could be used as a therapeutic target for osteoporosis and kidney stones.

 Genta Incorporated’s patent application covering novel pharmaceutical gallium compositions and complexes, including the company’s franchise of oral gallium-containing products intended as potential treatment for diseases associated with accelerated bone loss, has been allowed by the U.S. Patent Office. The company has completed its initial Phase 1 dose-ranging study of its lead compound in this investigational pipeline, G4544, and is seeking a buyer for the intravenous formulation of its on-market product from this franchise, Ganite(R).