Recent research found that supplemental vitamin D doesn’t prevent fractures or have any effect on the diseases it has been claimed to help, and blood tests for vitamin D are useless. Half of all postmenopausal women will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime. Hip fractures are common in the elderly and have serious consequences. More than 300,000 people are… READ MORE "Should You Take Vitamin D Supplements?"
Milk and Health: The Evidence
A useful review of all the current evidence about milk and health provides a lot of surprises. It shows that current recommendations are flawed and that much of what we have believed is wrong. Milk has been praised and vilified. Vegans eschew it. Babies thrive on it. Adults who are lactose-intolerant learn to avoid it. Maasai men thrive on a… READ MORE "Milk and Health: The Evidence"
Osteopenia: When Does Decreased Bone Density Become a Disease Requiring Treatment?
Osteoporosis is routinely treated with bisphosphonates to prevent fractures. A new study suggests that osteopenia should be treated too. But questions remain. Bisphosphonate drugs have been shown to increase bone density and prevent fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis (remember Sally Field in those ads for Boniva?) but what about women with milder decreases in bone density (osteopenia)? Can the… READ MORE "Osteopenia: When Does Decreased Bone Density Become a Disease Requiring Treatment?"
Osteoporosis Drugs: Good Medicine or Big Pharma Scam?
A recent story on NPR accused the drug manufacturer Merck of inventing a disease, osteopenia, in order to sell its drug Fosamax. It showed how the definition of what constitutes a disease evolves, and the role that drug companies can play in that evolution. Osteoporosis is a reduction in bone mineral density that leads to fractures. The most serious are… READ MORE "Osteoporosis Drugs: Good Medicine or Big Pharma Scam?"
