It's estimated that eight-million Americans have the brittle bone disease called osteoporosis. Each year, 500-thousand of those people will end up with a spine so weak, it actually collapses. It's called a vertebral fracture - and once it happens, little can be done to reinforce the already fragile spine. For years, bed rest and painkillers were the only treatment. Doctors are experimenting with a new way to glue broken spines back together again.
Genevieve Stinchomb loves to watch her son and grandson practice soccer moves. Sometimes she even participates a little. Not long ago, this kind of activity would have been impossible because Genevieve was in a wheelchair. Osteoporosis had eroded her spine so badly that her vertabrae began to collapse. Surgery to repair her fragile spine would make matters worse, so she was told nothing could be done.
Genevieve Stinchcomb, Spinal Fracture Patient:
"I was at a point where something had to be done. I was in severe pain. I couldn't lift my left arm out or lift up or anything without pain."
Then she found out about something new.
Gregg Zoarski, M.D., Neuroradiologist, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD:
"The technique that we're using to treat fractures can be performed on an outpatient basis, it's relatively easy to perform, it's a safe procedure and it can get patients up and mobilized much quicker. "
The procedure uses an acrylic epoxy to stabilize the spine without major surgery. When the epoxy is the consistency of toothpaste, doctors inject it into the collapsed vertebra, using x-rays to guide them. Within a few minutes, it becomes rock-hard. It's light, yet strong enough to reinforce the spine, relieving pressure and pain. The procedure is done with a local anesthetic, and patients can be out of the hospital and walking within a day. It's given people like Genevieve a second chance to stand up and take part in life again.
Genevieve Stinchcomb:
"I've still got my mind. I just didn't have part of my body. Now I can get around. I'm glad I had it done."
The medical cement has been used in the past to treat fractured spines, but the procedure involved major surgery, general anesthesia and a long stay in the hospital. By injecting the cement into the spine, patients can stay awake during the procedure, and since there's much less physical trauma, patients usually can leave the hospital the next day. The injection of cement is a fraction of the cost of major surgery.
Source: Ivanhoe
Showing posts with label osteoporosis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label osteoporosis. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Elevated homocysteine levels
Homocysteine is a toxic, plaque-forming amino acid that is produced from the amino acid methionine. Without adequate B vitamins (B6, B12, and folic acid), homocysteine begins building up in the body and triggers plaque formation, oxidation of cholesterol, and potentially blood clots. Elevated homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease as well as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, macular degeneration, depression, headaches, birth defects, and certain forms of cancer.
Mediterranean diet can have a significant effect on the risk factor because it is lower in meat consumption. For other means of lowering homocysteine to an acceptable level, take the following every day:
• Folic acid (800 – 1,600 mcg a day)
• Vitamin B6 (10-40 mg a day)
• Vitamin B12 (200 – 1,000 mcg a day)
• Trimethylglycine (1,000 – 2,000 mg a day)
For most people, taking the above B vitamins or comprehensive multivitamins will be enough to counteract elevated homocysteine levels, but some have trouble converting folic acid to its active form. For those, adding the bioactive folic acid (5-methyltetrahydrofolate [5-MTHF], the active form of folic acid) will go further in reducing homocysteine levels. Researchers have found that giving 5-MTHF to subjects increased the plasma folate concentration 700 percent better than those who took folic acids alone. Trials and tests suggest that a desirable dosage should be 800-1,000 mcg daily. Note as well that this should be added to the above intake of B vitamins and should not replace then.
Those who have a continued problem with excessive homocysteine levels should ask their doctor about having a genomic test done to see if you genetically have a problem with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) enzyme production. SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) are genetic side roads that are responsible for the differences between all of us. SNPs can make our genes perform below their optimal level and may lead to disease. One of MTHFR’s main functions is converting folic acid to its active form so that it can be used by our bodies and help reduce homocysteine levels. Thus, wen you hve this genetic deficiency, you will have a surplus of homocysteine. Genomic tests can determine if you have a genetic “erros” or mutation in this gene, which is the most commonly known inherited risk for high homocysteine levels. Although these mutations do impair the regulation of homocysteine, maintaining adequate folic acid levels (through supplements like FolaPro, the bioactive form of folic acid, 5-MTHF) in your system will correct high homocysteine levels.
Mediterranean diet can have a significant effect on the risk factor because it is lower in meat consumption. For other means of lowering homocysteine to an acceptable level, take the following every day:
• Folic acid (800 – 1,600 mcg a day)
• Vitamin B6 (10-40 mg a day)
• Vitamin B12 (200 – 1,000 mcg a day)
• Trimethylglycine (1,000 – 2,000 mg a day)
For most people, taking the above B vitamins or comprehensive multivitamins will be enough to counteract elevated homocysteine levels, but some have trouble converting folic acid to its active form. For those, adding the bioactive folic acid (5-methyltetrahydrofolate [5-MTHF], the active form of folic acid) will go further in reducing homocysteine levels. Researchers have found that giving 5-MTHF to subjects increased the plasma folate concentration 700 percent better than those who took folic acids alone. Trials and tests suggest that a desirable dosage should be 800-1,000 mcg daily. Note as well that this should be added to the above intake of B vitamins and should not replace then.
Those who have a continued problem with excessive homocysteine levels should ask their doctor about having a genomic test done to see if you genetically have a problem with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) enzyme production. SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) are genetic side roads that are responsible for the differences between all of us. SNPs can make our genes perform below their optimal level and may lead to disease. One of MTHFR’s main functions is converting folic acid to its active form so that it can be used by our bodies and help reduce homocysteine levels. Thus, wen you hve this genetic deficiency, you will have a surplus of homocysteine. Genomic tests can determine if you have a genetic “erros” or mutation in this gene, which is the most commonly known inherited risk for high homocysteine levels. Although these mutations do impair the regulation of homocysteine, maintaining adequate folic acid levels (through supplements like FolaPro, the bioactive form of folic acid, 5-MTHF) in your system will correct high homocysteine levels.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Osteoporosis
“Thinning” and weakening of the matrix of the bones which become more fragile. While a little of this is expected as we age, collapse of vertebrae in the neck and back, fractures of the hip and other bones are becoming increasingly common in younger people, and osteoporosis is the underlying cause.
There are many causes, including changes in hormone level in women as they age, reduced weight-bearing exercise, low calcium in the diet, excess alcohol, poor nutrition, some drugs (especially steroids) and low vitamin D and magnesium levels.
Doctors can
• Give additional calcium in the hope this will enter the bones. Most people do not realize that without magnesium, vitamin D and a little boron, silicon and manganese, most supplemental calcium goes out in the urine.
• Hormone replacement therapy in women (HRT). This does improve bone density but as this has been now shown to increase the risks of heart, stroke and other disease, consider using bio-identical hormones like progesterone.
• Bisphosphonates such as Fosomax, pamidronate, etidronate. Bone is continually being reabsorbed and rebuilt. These drugs bind to the bone and stop the reabsorption, so the bones just keep building.
Lifestyle
• Walking. The most important stimulus to strengthening bone is weight-bearing exercise causing slight jarring on the bones. So walking is perhaps the best thing a person with, or at risk of, osteoporosis can do. But be careful not to jar too hard if you already have osteoporosis; this frequently occurs with jogging. Wear good shoes with well cushioned soles.
• A new weight reduction and muscle building system called “vibration training”, where people stand and hold positions on a very rapidly vibrating plate, should be very helpful for osteoporosis. This technique was, in fact, devised by the Russian Space Agency to stop osteoporosis developing in cosmonauts in the weightlessness of space. These vibration plate units are very effective in strengthening bones.
• Do not smoke or drink excess alcohol.
• Expose your body to a few minutes of sunlight daily to raise vitamin D levels, but avoid the midday sun.
Nutritional supplements
• A good multivitamin/multimineral ensures that bone has all the nutrients and minerals it requires to stay strong and repair itself.
• Calcium and magnesium, 800-1,000mg/day, help the bones retain their strength. Calcium is poorly absorbed without magnesium and a few trace elements such as boron, silicon and manganese.
• Vitamin D, if not already in the multivitamin; at least 400iu/day.
• Omega 3 fish oils, 1-2 grams daily, improve the elasticity and strength of the bone.
There are many causes, including changes in hormone level in women as they age, reduced weight-bearing exercise, low calcium in the diet, excess alcohol, poor nutrition, some drugs (especially steroids) and low vitamin D and magnesium levels.
Doctors can
• Give additional calcium in the hope this will enter the bones. Most people do not realize that without magnesium, vitamin D and a little boron, silicon and manganese, most supplemental calcium goes out in the urine.
• Hormone replacement therapy in women (HRT). This does improve bone density but as this has been now shown to increase the risks of heart, stroke and other disease, consider using bio-identical hormones like progesterone.
• Bisphosphonates such as Fosomax, pamidronate, etidronate. Bone is continually being reabsorbed and rebuilt. These drugs bind to the bone and stop the reabsorption, so the bones just keep building.
Lifestyle
• Walking. The most important stimulus to strengthening bone is weight-bearing exercise causing slight jarring on the bones. So walking is perhaps the best thing a person with, or at risk of, osteoporosis can do. But be careful not to jar too hard if you already have osteoporosis; this frequently occurs with jogging. Wear good shoes with well cushioned soles.
• A new weight reduction and muscle building system called “vibration training”, where people stand and hold positions on a very rapidly vibrating plate, should be very helpful for osteoporosis. This technique was, in fact, devised by the Russian Space Agency to stop osteoporosis developing in cosmonauts in the weightlessness of space. These vibration plate units are very effective in strengthening bones.
• Do not smoke or drink excess alcohol.
• Expose your body to a few minutes of sunlight daily to raise vitamin D levels, but avoid the midday sun.
Nutritional supplements
• A good multivitamin/multimineral ensures that bone has all the nutrients and minerals it requires to stay strong and repair itself.
• Calcium and magnesium, 800-1,000mg/day, help the bones retain their strength. Calcium is poorly absorbed without magnesium and a few trace elements such as boron, silicon and manganese.
• Vitamin D, if not already in the multivitamin; at least 400iu/day.
• Omega 3 fish oils, 1-2 grams daily, improve the elasticity and strength of the bone.
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Antistress Mineral
Magnesium gets no respect. Other nutrients, like calcium, folic acid or iron, are in the news all the time, and even vitamin D has been getting some press of late. But you never hear about magnesium. Big mistake.
This mineral helps in more than 300 processes in the body. In fact, every cell in your body needs this mineral. That might explain why it helps lower the risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and much more. Yet three out of four Americans don’t get enough.
Why Magnesium?
When it comes to mood, magnesium is a major player. Stress triggers the release of stress hormones that drain magnesium from the body. In turn, low magnesium levels raise stress hormones, escalating the stress response. Studies on animals show that low magnesium intake increases sensitivity to noise and crowding and escalates stress-included diseases, such as ulcers, while animals fed magnesium-rich diets cope better and are at lower risk for disease. Studies on people under pressure at work to meet ridiculously tight deadlines cope far better when their diets are rich in magnesium but are more likely to freak out if they aren’t.
Women who get crabby, depressed and downright difficult to live with the 10 to 14 days before their periods also need more magnesium. Magnesium levels drop during the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle, which might contribute to PMS symptoms, such as water retention, cramping, headaches and an oversensitive nervous system (feeling crabby, irritable and edgy?). Increasing intake of magnesium helps curb these symptoms – even to recommended levels is enough to see improvement for symptoms for some women.
How Much Do You Need?
You need about 320 to 500 milligrams of this feel-good nutrient every day. That doesn’t sound like much until you realize that most of the magnesium gold mines in the diet are foods many people don’t typically include in generous amounts, such as avocados, oysters, bananas and the super mood foods wheat germ, whole grains, cooked dried beans and peas and dark green leafy vegetables.
If you choose to supplement, look for the best absorbed forms, such as magnesium oxide, citrate or hydroxide. But don’t go overboard on this mineral! It is the active ingredient in Milk of Magnesia, which means that too much can loosen more than your muscles, leaving you in the bathroom rather than at the party.
This mineral helps in more than 300 processes in the body. In fact, every cell in your body needs this mineral. That might explain why it helps lower the risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and much more. Yet three out of four Americans don’t get enough.
Why Magnesium?
When it comes to mood, magnesium is a major player. Stress triggers the release of stress hormones that drain magnesium from the body. In turn, low magnesium levels raise stress hormones, escalating the stress response. Studies on animals show that low magnesium intake increases sensitivity to noise and crowding and escalates stress-included diseases, such as ulcers, while animals fed magnesium-rich diets cope better and are at lower risk for disease. Studies on people under pressure at work to meet ridiculously tight deadlines cope far better when their diets are rich in magnesium but are more likely to freak out if they aren’t.
Women who get crabby, depressed and downright difficult to live with the 10 to 14 days before their periods also need more magnesium. Magnesium levels drop during the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle, which might contribute to PMS symptoms, such as water retention, cramping, headaches and an oversensitive nervous system (feeling crabby, irritable and edgy?). Increasing intake of magnesium helps curb these symptoms – even to recommended levels is enough to see improvement for symptoms for some women.
How Much Do You Need?
You need about 320 to 500 milligrams of this feel-good nutrient every day. That doesn’t sound like much until you realize that most of the magnesium gold mines in the diet are foods many people don’t typically include in generous amounts, such as avocados, oysters, bananas and the super mood foods wheat germ, whole grains, cooked dried beans and peas and dark green leafy vegetables.
If you choose to supplement, look for the best absorbed forms, such as magnesium oxide, citrate or hydroxide. But don’t go overboard on this mineral! It is the active ingredient in Milk of Magnesia, which means that too much can loosen more than your muscles, leaving you in the bathroom rather than at the party.
Gimme a D!
Vitamin D is no longer just for strong bones. In fact, it might be useful for a whole host of ills, from diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer and heart disease to boosting your immune system, curing chronic muscle pain and fibromyalgia and preventing depression, anxiety and even memory loss. There’s even suspicions that a deficiency increases the risk for obesity. What’s more, you possibly need a whole lot more than you think. Happy, fit people place this vitamin at the top of their to-do list.
Up until recently, vitamin D’s only know job was to help prevent bone loss associated with diseases like osteoporosis and rickets. That’s because vitamin D is critical for the absorption of calcium and also ensuring the mineral gets deposited into bones. If you’re low on vitamin D, it’s a given you’ll only absorb about 10% of the calcium you consume, which is a surefire way to end up with osteoporosis later in life, even if you take lots of calcium. Getting enough vitamin D and calcium can significantly improve a woman’s chances of avoiding osteoporosis.
While we used to think only bones were sensitive to vitamin D, experts are finding that almost every tissue in the body has receptors for vitamin D, suggesting that it works its magic everywhere in the body.
We now know that vitamin D aids in the prevention and/or treatment of gum disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, hypertension and certain cancers, including colon, breast, pancreas and prostate cancers. Vitamin D also reduces the incidence of falls by up to 60% in seniors. A few very recent studies even suggest that vitamin D is critical for brain function in general, helping to boost not just mood, but also memory, reaction times and thinking.
In addition, we know that a deficiency of this vitamin is typically found in people who have risk factors for obesity, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. It also is clear that overweight people are prime candidates for a vitamin D deficiency.
Happy, fit people also might get their mood boost from this vitamin. People prone to the blues have low levels of vitamin D, while happy people’s vitamin D levels are much higher. Even healthy, relatively happy people report a mood boost when they add extra vitamin D to their diets. The research is strongest for people battling seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, whose mood worsens as the seasons progress from fall through winter. For years, the only known cause was thought to be lack of sunlight. But it might be vitamin D these people lack.
Vitamin D really isn’t a vitamin at all. It’s hormone. You don’t need to get it from your diet, since your body can make vitamin D if its’ exposed to sunlight long enough. When it comes to SAD, it might not be the lack of sunlight that causes the winter blues, but rather the lack of sunlight means the body can’t make enough vitamin D, which otherwise would have sparked a perkier mood through the winter months.
That’s what the research shows. Deficiencies of vitamin D escalate from 38% to 60% from fall to spring in people who battle SAD. Give them extra doses of vitamin D, and voila! Their mood improves and anxiety drops. Although not yet studied, winter depression typically goes hand in hand with weight gain. Sidestep the blues and you might have a better chance of fitting into a swimsuit by spring.
Up until recently, vitamin D’s only know job was to help prevent bone loss associated with diseases like osteoporosis and rickets. That’s because vitamin D is critical for the absorption of calcium and also ensuring the mineral gets deposited into bones. If you’re low on vitamin D, it’s a given you’ll only absorb about 10% of the calcium you consume, which is a surefire way to end up with osteoporosis later in life, even if you take lots of calcium. Getting enough vitamin D and calcium can significantly improve a woman’s chances of avoiding osteoporosis.
While we used to think only bones were sensitive to vitamin D, experts are finding that almost every tissue in the body has receptors for vitamin D, suggesting that it works its magic everywhere in the body.
We now know that vitamin D aids in the prevention and/or treatment of gum disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, hypertension and certain cancers, including colon, breast, pancreas and prostate cancers. Vitamin D also reduces the incidence of falls by up to 60% in seniors. A few very recent studies even suggest that vitamin D is critical for brain function in general, helping to boost not just mood, but also memory, reaction times and thinking.
In addition, we know that a deficiency of this vitamin is typically found in people who have risk factors for obesity, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. It also is clear that overweight people are prime candidates for a vitamin D deficiency.
Happy, fit people also might get their mood boost from this vitamin. People prone to the blues have low levels of vitamin D, while happy people’s vitamin D levels are much higher. Even healthy, relatively happy people report a mood boost when they add extra vitamin D to their diets. The research is strongest for people battling seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, whose mood worsens as the seasons progress from fall through winter. For years, the only known cause was thought to be lack of sunlight. But it might be vitamin D these people lack.
Vitamin D really isn’t a vitamin at all. It’s hormone. You don’t need to get it from your diet, since your body can make vitamin D if its’ exposed to sunlight long enough. When it comes to SAD, it might not be the lack of sunlight that causes the winter blues, but rather the lack of sunlight means the body can’t make enough vitamin D, which otherwise would have sparked a perkier mood through the winter months.
That’s what the research shows. Deficiencies of vitamin D escalate from 38% to 60% from fall to spring in people who battle SAD. Give them extra doses of vitamin D, and voila! Their mood improves and anxiety drops. Although not yet studied, winter depression typically goes hand in hand with weight gain. Sidestep the blues and you might have a better chance of fitting into a swimsuit by spring.
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