Staying contemporary with any area of health care is a task, but it is one I take seriously.  One of the tools I use to keep up is a weekly update from PubMed, the research database at the National Library of Medicine.  One of my primary searches for which I receive a weekly update is […]

There are two traits in research that are needed to evaluate if treatment can be effective.  A treatment needs to be qualified and quantified.  Qualified delineates if a particular treatment works or has an effect on a disease.  Quantified determines how much is needed for a positive effect. Many studies have qualified exercise as an […]

The degree to which different patients respond to any treatment for osteoporosis seems to be related to age.  The degree of loss of bone mineral density (BMD) on a DEXA scan expressed as a T score which is the standard deviations below that in a healthy 30-35 year old.  A T score of -1.0 to […]

Atopic disease is a group of allergic disorders such as asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis/hay fever.  These disorders are common, affecting 10% of adults and 20% of children.  It has been long thought that gut disorders play a role in atopic disorders.  Research has demonstrated that “leakiness” of the gut barrier is an important trigger […]

The US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released the new dietary guidelines for 2025-2030.  Like so many government guidelines, there seems to be some good updates and some not so good.  This mixed bag of good/bad relates to the relationship between the food industry with one […]

Osteoporosis is a complex disease caused by a progressive imbalance in the activity of the cells involved in bone remodeling. Bone remodeling is the process of repairing wear related microcracks in bone.  This occurs in 10% of bone each year with the entire skeleton being rebuilt every decade.  Resident bone cells called osteocytes are sensitive at […]

Osteoporosis is a disease involving weakening of bone increasing the risk of fragility fracture or fractures from insignificant trauma.  This weakening is estimated by measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) on a DEXA scan.  On these scans the BMD is reported as a T score, or the standard deviations in BMD compared to healthy 30 […]

It has been well known that lack of weight bearing stimulus to bone over time causes bone mineral density loss (BMD).  Typically, early research on disease uses animal models.  In osteoporosis research a question might be, where do they get mice with osteoporosis to test a particular treatment.  The answer is that they simply create […]

Osteoporosis is a complex disease of aging.  Complex means it isn’t caused by “A” but rather it is by “A”, “B”, “C” and “D”.  To further complicate this, one patient may have the disease caused by 20% A, 70% C and 10% D while in another patient, it is caused by 60% A, 30% B […]

There has been a wealth of discussion within the health care community about the adverse effects of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).  Recent studies have shown the link between higher consumption of UPFs to some of the most prevalent health problems such as obesity and diabetes.   It seems that these foods are “engineered” to allow their […]