Posts Tagged ‘25-hydroxy Vitamin D’
Start with Dietary Calcium
Once again we are warned of the dangers of calcium supplements. Once again those studies cited prescribed supplements without regard to total calcium intake, including diet. What matters is total calcium intake, including diet.
I prescribe a lot of Calcium Citrate for my patients. I would prefer not to. Dietary Calcium is more easily digested than supplements, and appears to hold fewer dangers than Calcium Carbonate or other calcium supplements. Unfortunately, we have lost our taste for calcium rich foods. There are tasty choices.
Men Too
“Men are from Mars”, so March is a good time to think about men, the overlooked minority in osteoporosis. The American Journal of Men’s Health has published a study of osteoporosis screening rates for men over age 70. The results are discouraging.
Osteoporosis screening at age 70 for men with no identified risk factors, and earlier for those with known risk factors, has been recommended by the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) and Medicare since 2008. 25 % of persons known to have osteoporosis are men. Yet we still perceive osteoporosis to be women only . We ignore the male minority.
Chronic Pain
This week I spoke to doctors and nurses who run Pain Clinics. The obvious connection is Vertebral Fractures requiring Kyphoplasty or Vertebroplasty. If you only do the procedure, you have not solved the problem. You must treat the Osteoporosis too, preferably with the Anabolic, Forteo, if you want to avoid further fractures.
Vitamin D is the other connection. Successful treatment of chronic pain often requires enough Vitamin D3 to bring the 25-hydroxy Vitamin D level to at least 40ng/ml. This is not yet widely known. Not all clinics are testing for Vitamin D levels. They should be!