Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/1/13.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Marijuana Not Medicine, Addiction Experts Say - Medscape, 4/29/13 - "Illinois should not legalize cannabis, and physicians should not write recommendations for patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, because it is a dangerous, addictive drug and is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a group of addiction medicine physicians said during a press conference here ... For every disease and disorder for which marijuana has been recommended, there is a better, FDA-approved medication ... There are probably very few patients for whom marijuana is the only drug that makes them feel better. Is it worth the risk to our society to give one person an intoxicant to help them feel better — while not getting better — and put our entire society at risk by making that intoxicant available to all?"

Oxytocin Makes Schizophrenia Patients More Socially Savvy - Medscape, 4/29/13 - "oxytocin, delivered as an intranasal spray, significantly improved the ability of patients with schizophrenia to tell when people were being sarcastic or lying ... oxytocin significantly improved the ability of the schizophrenia patients to interpret paralinguistic cues and to understand the different mental states" - See Oxy Pro (Oxytocin) Nasal Spray at International Anti-aging Systems.

Mediterranean Diet Might Help Stave Off Dementia - WebMD, 4/29/13 - "Eating fish, chicken, olive oil and other foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids while staying away from meats and dairy -- the so-called Mediterranean diet -- may help older adults keep their memory and thinking skills sharp ... those who followed the Mediterranean diet were 19 percent less likely to develop thinking and memory problems" - [Science Daily]

Will green tea help you lose weight? - Science Daily, 4/29/13 - "Results showed that green tea extract in isolation did not give any improvements in body weight and glucose intolerance. However, when green tea extract was given with polyethylene glycol, there was a significant reduction in body weight gain, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in both normal mice on a high fat diet and diabetic mice"

Obesity may influence heart function through sex hormones - Science Daily, 4/27/13 - "suggests effects on heart function in healthy men with artificially raised estrogen levels and artificially lowered testosterone levels to mimic an obese state ... Estradiol, an estrogen, is primarily known as a female hormone but it also circulates at very low levels in men. Testosterone is converted to estradiol by the enzyme aromatase, the activity of which might be increased in obesity leading to raised estradiol and reduced testosterone ... The men with obesity-related changes in sex hormones exhibited altered heart function ... We found that after increasing the estrogen levels and decreasing the testosterone levels in men for one week the deformation of the left heart chamber was significantly altered"

Cannabis Use in Teens Linked to Irreparable Drop in IQ - Medscape, 4/26/13 - "Cannabis users who start smoking the drug as adolescents show an irreparable decline in IQ, with more persistent use linked to a greater decline ... Case-control studies show that light to heavy cannabis use can cause enduring neuropsychological problems, but they are retrospective and there are no tests of premorbid functioning ... Between the ages of 8 and 38 years, individuals who began using cannabis in adolescence and continued to use it for years thereafter lost an average of 8 IQ points. In contrast, IQ among individuals who never used cannabis actually rose slightly ... Cessation of cannabis did not restore IQ among teen-onset cannabis users"

Sunshine hormone, vitamin D, may offer hope for treating liver fibrosis - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "The Evans lab discovered a genetic switch through which vitamin D-related ligands such as calcitriol, a hormonally active form of the vitamin, can put the brakes on fibrosis. "Preclinical results suggest the 'vitamin D brake' is highly efficacious and led us to believe that the time is right to consider a trial in the context of chronic liver disease,"" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Hormone levels and sexual motivation among young women - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "Estrogen was having a positive effect, but with a two-day lag. Progesterone was having a persistent negative effect, both for current day, day before, and two days earlier ... There's a common belief in the medical literature that testosterone is the main regulator of women's libido ... Doctors tend to believe that, though the evidence isn't that strong in humans. In the natural cycles, we weren't finding effects of testosterone. It wasn't significantly predicting outcomes"

Therapeutic Applications of Melatonin - Medscape, 4/25/13 - "Melatonin is a hormone with multiple actions. It is involved in the regulation of biological rhythms, in sleep regulation, it has potent antioxidant action and protects the organism from carcinogenesis and neurodegenerative disorders. The hormone possesses immune-enhancing activity. Therapeutically, it may be used for the management of insomnia, jet lag, the resynchronization of circadian rhythms, as an adjuvant in cancer therapy and in the inhibition of disease progression in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.

Coffee may help prevent breast cancer returning, study finds - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "Patients who took the pill, along with two or more cups of coffee daily, reported less than half the rate of cancer recurrence, compared with their Tamoxifen-taking counterparts who drank one cup or less ... One theory we are working with is that coffee 'activates' Tamoxifen and makes it more efficient"

Melatonin Delays ALS Symptom Onset and Death in Mice - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that is best known for its role in sleep regulation. After screening more than a thousand FDA-approved drugs several years ago, the research team determined that melatonin is a powerful antioxidant that blocks the release of enzymes that activate apoptosis, or programmed cell death ... Our experiments show for the first time that a lack of melatonin and melatonin receptor 1, or MT1, is associated with the progression of ALS ... We saw similar results in a Huntington's disease model in an earlier project, suggesting similar biochemical pathways are disrupted in these challenging neurologic diseases" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.

Metabolic Disorders Predict the Hardening of the Arterial Walls Already in Childhood - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "Metabolic disorders, such as excess abdominal fat, raised blood pressure, higher levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides and lower levels of the beneficial HDL cholesterol can be found in children as young as 6 to 8 years of age ... Arterial stiffness and reduced arterial dilation predict atherosclerosis, i..e. the hardening of the arteries, and resulting vascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, cerebral infarctions and lower extremity arterial disease. The newly published results are scientifically significant, as they suggest that metabolic disorders developing already in childhood could cause mild arterial stiffness, thus impairing vascular health"

Probiotics found to reduce hepatic encephalopathy - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "Ammonia, produced by gut bacteria, is thought to be one of the main mediators of cerebral dysfunction in HE. Probiotics work by enriching the gut flora with a non-urease producing microorganisms, which decrease ammonia production ... Twice as many patients taking a placebo developed overt HE (the study's primary endpoint) compared to patients taking probiotics in the form of a capsule ... Hepatic encephalopathy is an insidious disease that's caused by an accumulation of toxins in the blood that are normally removed by the liver ... Hepatic encephalopathy is a spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities including personality changes, intellectual impairment and reduced levels of consciousness in patients with liver failure, after exclusion of other known brain disease" - See Garden of Life, Primal Defense at Amazon.com.  Note:  Maybe it will work for ammonia accumulation due to endurance exercise:

• Ammonia accumulation during highly intensive long-lasting cycling: individual observations - Int J Sports Med. 1990 May;11 Suppl 2:S78-84 - "Acute quantitative ammonia production during intensive endurance exercise may be enhanced by a reduced glycogen availability in muscle. However, adequate amounts of glycogen itself do not prevent ammonia production when exercise is at high intensity and long-lasting. The continuous ammonia accumulation in blood during endurance exercise in trained individuals may be the result of a relatively low blood flow to the liver and thereby low clearance in contrast to lactate which may not accumulate due to a high clearance rate in both active and nonactive oxidative muscle fibers. In a number of subjects it was observed that exhaustion, when performing endurance exercise at high exercise intensities, occurred when plasma ammonia levels were high. Muscle cramps occurred in subjects who reached their highest individual ammonia values and seemed not to be related to serum potassium, plasma lactate, or muscle glycogen. These individual observations give rise to the hypothesis that high intramuscular ammonia levels may be related to the etiology of muscle exhaustion and muscle cramping during highly intensive endurance exercise"

Vitamin E identified as potential weapon against obesity - Science Daily, 4/23/13 - "The collaborators, from Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Cornell University, discovered the essential nutrient vitamin E can alleviate symptoms of liver disease brought on by obesity ... These findings may have a significant impact on public health ... as the vast majority of adults in the United States do not consume the amount of vitamin E recommended by the National Institute of Medicine ... There is currently no treatment for NASH, making it one of the most common reasons for liver transplantation. Manor also points out that "NASH piggybacks on the two great epidemics of our time: obesity and Type 2 diabetes."" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

Hair Cortisol Reveals Stress, Predicts CVD in Seniors - Medscape, 4/23/13 - "We found a 2.7-times increased risk of cardiovascular disease in our participants in the highest hair cortisol quartile compared to participants in the lowest quartile"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Intake of whole grains from different cereal and food sources and incidence of colorectal cancer in the Scandinavian HELGA cohort - Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Apr 30 - "We used data from the large population-based Scandinavian cohort HELGA consisting of 108,000 Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian persons, of whom 1,123 developed colorectal cancer during a median of 11 years of follow-up. Detailed information on daily intake of whole-grain products, including whole-grain bread, crispbread, and breakfast cereals, was available, and intakes of total whole grains and specific whole-grain species (wheat, rye, and oats) were estimated ... Intake of whole-grain products was associated with a lower incidence of colorectal cancer per 50-g increment (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.94; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.89, 0.99), and the same tendency was found for total whole-grain intake (IRR pr. 25-g increment, 0.94; 95 % CI, 0.88, 1.01). Intake of whole-grain wheat was associated with a lower incidence of colorectal cancer (IRR for highest versus lowest quartile of intake, 0.66; 95 % CI, 0.51, 0.85), but no statistical significant linear trend was observed (p for trend: 0.18). No significant association was found for whole-grain rye or oats"

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency and the 5-Year Incidence of CKD - Am J Kidney Dis. 2013 Apr 23 - "Our prospective cohort study shows that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a higher annual incidence of albuminuria and reduced eGFR and independently predicts the 5-year incidence of albuminuria" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Saw Palmetto Extract Enhances Erectile Responses by Inhibition of Phosphodiesterase 5 Activity and Increase in Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Expression in Rat and Rabbit Corpus Cavernosum - Urology. 2013 Apr 23 - "The results suggest that SPE may have potential application value for the prevention or treatment of erectile dysfunction through an increase in iNOS mRNA expression and inhibition of PDE5 activity in corpus cavernosum smooth muscles" - See saw palmetto products at iHerb.

Indole-3-carbinol protects against pressure overload induced cardiac remodeling via activating AMPK-α - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2013 Apr 27 - "Indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a monomer component extracted from leaves and stems of cruciferous vegetables, has inhibitory effects on tumors, obesity, and liver fibrosis ... We determined the effects of I3C on cardiac remodeling and heart function using an aortic banding (AB) mouse model ... I3C both prevents and reverses cardiac remodeling by activating AMPK-α signaling. I3C is a potential therapeutic drug for heart failure" - See indole 3 carbinol at Amazon.com.

Habitual Dietary Isoflavone Intake Is Associated with Decreased C-Reactive Protein Concentrations among Healthy Premenopausal Women - J Nutr. 2013 Apr 24 - "Between 2005 and 2007, 259 healthy, regularly menstruating women were enrolled in the BioCycle Study, and followed for up to 2 menstrual cycles ... Diet was assessed up to 4 times per cycle by using 24-h recalls ... Compared with the lowest quartile of total isoflavone intake, women in the highest quartile had, on average, 27% lower serum CRP concentrations"

Intake of Small-to-Medium-Chain Saturated Fatty Acids Is Associated with Peripheral Leukocyte Telomere Length in Postmenopausal Women - J Nutr. 2013 Apr 24 - "Intake of short-to-medium-chain saturated fatty acids (SMSFAs; aliphatic tails of ≤12 carbons) was inversely associated with TL"

Effect of Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 in fermented milk on abdominal adiposity in adults in a randomised controlled trial - Br J Nutr. 2013 Apr 25:1-8 - "Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LG2055) ... A multi-centre, double-blind, parallel-group RCT was conducted using 210 healthy Japanese adults with large visceral fat areas ... These findings demonstrate that consumption of LG2055 at doses as low as the order of 108cfu/d exhibited a significant lowering effect on abdominal adiposity, and suggest that constant consumption might be needed to maintain the effect" - See Lactobacillus gasseri at Amazon.com.

Effects of watermelon supplementation on arterial stiffness and wave reflection amplitude in postmenopausal women - Menopause. 2013 May;20(5):573-7 - "In a randomized cross-over study, 12 postmenopausal women (mean [SE] age, 57 [1] y; mean [SE] body mass index, 38.1 [2.1] kg/m; mean [SE] SBP, 153 [4] mm Hg) were assigned to watermelon supplementation (L-citrulline/L-arginine 6 g/d) or placebo supplementation for 6 weeks ... baPWV (-1.2 [0.3] m/s, P < 0.001), aortic SBP (-10 [3] mm Hg, P < 0.01), and aortic diastolic blood pressure (-7 [1] mm Hg, P < 0.001) decreased after watermelon supplementation compared with placebo ... Watermelon supplementation reduces arterial stiffness and aortic SBP by reducing pressure wave reflection amplitude in obese postmenopausal women with hypertension" - Note:  A -10 on the systolic is about what you'd get with prescription medications. - See Stimulin at Amazon.com (1,875 mg of L-citrulline) and L-arginine products at Amazon.com.

Serum uric acid and metabolic risk - Curr Med Res Opin. 2013 Apr 24 - "Key papers for inclusion were identified by a PubMed search ... An elevated UA is both strongly associated and predictive of the metabolic syndrome, and increasing evidence suggests that UA may have a causal role. The classical viewpoint that UA is simply an innocuous marker of metabolic syndrome that should not even be measured will likely have to be modified. Lowering UA may be a novel treatment target for preventing diabetes and justify prospective clinical trials on the possible benefits of the measurement and lowering of serum UA on multiple chronic disease end points"

Blood 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Levels and Incident Type 2 Diabetes: A meta-analysis of prospective studies - Diabetes Care. 2013 May;36(5):1422-8 - "A linear trend analysis showed that each 10 nmol/L increment in 25(OH)D levels was associated with a 4% lower risk of type 2 diabetes" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Dietary selenium supplementation modifies breast tumor growth and metastasis - Int J Cancer. 2013 Apr 23 - "Three diets supplemented with sodium selenite, methylseleninic acid (MSA) or selenomethionine (SeMet), as well as a Se-deficient and a Se-adequate diet were fed to mice before mammary gland inoculation of 4T1.2 cells ... Our data suggest that organic Se supplementation may reduce/delay breast cancer metastasis while selenite may exacerbate it" - See se-methylselenocysteine at Amazon.com.

Soy Milk Consumption and Blood Pressure Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients With Nephropathy - J Ren Nutr. 2013 Mar 13 - "randomized, crossover, controlled clinical trial was conducted in 29 type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy. Participants were randomly assigned to consume a diet containing soy milk, or a diet containing cow's milk, each for 4 weeks ... Consumption of soy milk resulted in a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure compared with consumption of cow's milk (percent change: -4.50 vs. 5.89%; P = .03). Serum triglyceride levels decreased significantly after soy milk consumption (percent change: -15.22 vs. 2.37%; P = .02). After adjustment for carbohydrate intake, the effect of soy milk on triglyceride level was not significant. There were no significant differences between soy milk and cow's milk consumption in terms of their effect on cardiovascular risks and markers of kidney function"

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

• FreedomPop announces $40 hotspot with access to Sprint's 3G network - engadget.com, 4/24/13 - I’ve been watching this company over the years. For a one-time fee of $40 you get 500 megabytes per months. I think AT&T has the cheapest option for the iPad at $15 per month for 250 megabytes. If you don’t subscribe to 3G for your iPad or you have a Wi-Fi only iPad and want something to put in your car so you can log in in emergencies this might be a great option. The downside is that you have to carry around and extra device with your iPad. I assume it uses 4G when available and 4G is about three times faster than 3G so an added benefit is the speed. 3G is about 1.4 mbps, 4G about 3 to 6 mbps and LTE about 5 to 12 mbps.
• I took and classic Macaroni and Cheese recipe at allrecipes.com and kept modifying it to make it healthier and easier to make.  I think I’ve got it.

  Ingredients:

  One and a third 16 ounce packages of Brown Rice Noodles
  One 16 ounce package of cooked chicken breast strips from Costco
  One 16 ounce package of shredded mozzarella and provolone
  One 8 ounce package of shredded mild cheddar cheese
  18 ounces of soy milk
  1/3 cup of Smart Balance Omega-3 margarine Macaron
  1/3 cup olive oil – Note:  I just eyeball the third cup margarine then top it to 2/3 cup with the olive oil.  You might want to melt it for 12 seconds in the microwave.
  Two 10 ounce packages of Steam’ables Broccoli Cuts
  Two teaspoons of Lite Salt
  
  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cook the brown rice noodles for seven minutes in salted water which is about a minute undercooked.  Cut the chicken strips into small pieces.  Drain the noodles and combine everything except the soy milk and cheese and stir it all together.  Add the cheese last because if you add it to the hot noodles it melts making it hard to stir.  Throw it all into a four quart baking dish (I use two Pyrex Easy Grab 2 quart casserole with glass cover). Pour the soy milk on top.  Bake for 55 minutes.

Health Focus (Hip Fracture/Replacement):

Related Topics:

• osteoporosis

Alternative News:

• Hip bone loss is attenuated with 1000 IU but not 400 IU daily vitamin D3: a 1 year double-blind RCT in postmenopausal women - J Bone Miner Res. 2013 Apr 13 - "Caucasian women aged 60-70 y (n = 305) were randomized to one of two doses of vitamin D or placebo ... Mean BMD loss at the hip was significantly less for the 1000 IU vitamin D group (0.05 +/- 1.46%), compared to the 400 IU vitamin D or placebo groups (0.57 +/- 1.33% and 0.60 +/- 1.67%, respectively) (p < 0.05). Mean(+/- SD) baseline 25(OH)D was 33.8 +/- 14.6 nmol/L; comparative 25(OH)D change for the placebo, 400 IU and 1000 IU vitamin D groups was: -4.1 +/- 11.5 nmol/L, +31. 6 +/- 19.8 nmol/L and +42.6 +/- 18.9 nmol/L respectively" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Dietary patterns and the risk of hip fractures in elderly Chinese: A matched case-control study - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Apr 12 - "Face-to-face interviews were conducted to assess dietary intake using a 79-item food frequency questionnaire ... We identified four dietary patterns: healthy, prudent, traditional, and high fat. Dose-dependent lower risks of hip fracture were observed in relation to higher scores in the healthy dietary pattern related to high fruit and vegetable intake, and in the prudent pattern typified by a higher intake of nuts, mushrooms, algae, and seafood but lower in grains, whereas the same were associated with lower scores in the high fat dietary pattern (all P trend <0.05). The adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for hip fractures, comparing the extreme tertiles of the three patterns, were 0.42 (0.24-0.73) for healthy, 0.51 (0.28-0.90) for prudent, and 2.25 (1.38-3.69) for high fat"
• Cartenoids found to reduce hip fracture risk in lean men - Science Daily, 12/16/12 - "Elderly who are lean (BMI <20 kg/m2) are at higher risk of hip fracture compared to those with higher BMI ... researchers examined the association between dietary antioxidant carotenoids and hip fracture risk across a range of BMI in elderly Chinese men and women using data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study ... low BMI is a stronger risk factor for hip fracture risk among elderly men compared to women ... Also, in men, hip fracture risk decreased with increasing intakes of total vegetables and of total carotenoids, particularly β-carotene" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com.
• High physical fitness in young adulthood reduces the risk of fractures later in life in men: A nationwide cohort study - J Bone Miner Res. 2012 Nov 26 - "Aerobic capacity and isometric muscle strength were measured in 435445 Swedish men that conscripted for military service from 1969-1978 ... When comparing men in the lowest and highest decile of physical fitness, the risk of a fracture was 1.8 times higher (95% CI = 1.6-2.1) and that of hip fracture was 2.7 times higher (95% CI = 1.6-4.7). The risk of fracture was also 1.4-1.5 times higher when comparing the extreme deciles of muscle strength (p < 0.001 for all). In a subcohort of 1009 twin pairs, up to 22% of the variation in physical fitness and 27-39% of the variation in muscle strength was attributable to environmental factors unique to one twin, e.g. physical activity. In conclusion, low aerobic capacity and muscle strength in young adulthood are associated with an increased risk of low-energy fractures later in life, while a low-energy fracture is associated with an increased risk of death already in middle-aged men"
• Joint failures potentially linked to oral bacteria - Science Daily, 4/18/12 - "The culprit behind a failed hip or knee replacements might be found in the mouth. DNA testing of bacteria from the fluid that lubricates hip and knee joints had bacteria with the same DNA as the plaque from patients with gum disease and in need of a joint replacement ... it might be the reason why aseptic loosening or prosthetic wear of the artificial joints fail within 10 years when no infection appears to be present ... For a long time, we've suspected that these bacteria were causing problems in arthritis patients, but never had the scientific evidence to support it" - See Xlear Spry Peppermint Gum, 600-Count (Made with 100% xylitol) at Amazon.com.
• A Randomized Controlled Trial of Vitamin D Dosing Strategies After Acute Hip Fracture - Medscape, 9/12/11 - "Our findings reveal that a simple daily 1,000 IU vitamin D3 dosing regimen may be as effective as a regimen that adds a loading dose of vitamin D2 to daily vitamin D3 for increasing 25-OHD levels as early as 4-weeks. However, more than 25% of all study patients taking 1,000 IU vitamin D3 (with or without the loading dose) still did not achieve the target 25-OHD level of at least 75 nmol/L. Future studies should examine higher daily doses of vitamin D3 (i.e. 2,000 IU) as well as the benefits of an additional loading dose in patients who are severely deficient" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Before you start bone-building meds, try dietary calcium and supplements, experts urge - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "For many people, prescription bone-building medicines should be a last resort ... adults who increase their intake of calcium and vitamin D usually increase bone mineral density and reduce the risk for hip fracture significantly ... I suspect that many doctors reach for their prescription pads because they believe it's unlikely that people will change their diets ... prescription bone-building medications are expensive, and many have side effects, including ironically an increase in hip fractures and jaw necrosis. They should be used only if diet and supplements don't do the trick ... For bone health, the researchers also encourage consuming adequate protein, less sodium, and more magnesium and potassium"
• Dietary Intakes of Arachidonic Acid and {alpha}-Linolenic Acid Are Associated with Reduced Risk of Hip Fracture in Older Adults - J Nutr. 2011 Apr 20 - "arachidonic acid (AA) ... Participants in the highest quartile of ALA intake had a 54% lower risk of hip fracture than those in the lowest quartile (Q4 vs. Q1: HR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.26-0.83). Men in the highest quartile of AA intake had an 80% lower risk of hip fracture than those in the lowest quartile (Q4 vs. Q1: HR = 0.20; 95% CI = 0.04-0.96). No significant associations were observed among intakes of EPA, DHA, EPA+DHA, or fish. These findings suggest dietary ALA may reduce hip fracture risk in women and men and dietary AA may reduce hip fracture risk in men" - See alpha lipoic acid products at Amazon.com. Note that arachidonic acid is in the omega-6 category.
  • Arachidonic acid - Wikipedia - "Arachidonic acid in the human body usually comes from dietary animal sources—meat, eggs, dairy—or is synthesized from linoleic acid"
• Three-quarters of hip fracture patients are vitamin D deficient, Indian study reveals - Science Daily, 12/12/10 - "Of the patients who had suffered hip fractures, 76.7% were shown to be vitamin D deficient as measured by serum 25(OH)D levels of less than 20 ng/ml" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Treatment for the Prevention of Falls in Older Adults - Medscape, 9/30/10 - "In summary, vitamin D supplementation is an effective strategy for reducing falls in older adults and should probably be incorporated into the clinical practice of providers caring for older adults, especially those at risk for falling. Although the effect appears to be modest, possibly because of inadequate dosing, vitamin D is inexpensive and well tolerated; a slight reduction in falls with vitamin D supplementation might lead to a significant decrease in the costs associated with fall morbidity and mortality" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Dietary protein may reduce hip fractures in the elderly - Science Daily, 5/5/10 - "individuals who were in the lowest 25 percent of dietary protein intake had approximately 50 percent more hip fractures than those who consumed greater amounts of dietary protein (all within normal intakes). Those who suffered hip fractures consumed less than the 46 grams of dietary protein per day recommended for adults"
• Vitamin D May Help Prevent Falls - WebMD, 10/2/09 - "Taking vitamin D supplements, at a dose of 700-1,000 international units per day, may make falling 19% less likely for people aged 65 and older" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• High-Dose Vitamin D Supplement May Reduce Risk of Falling Among Older People - Medscape, 10/1/09 - "Supplemental vitamin D in a dose of 700-1000 IU a day reduced the risk of falling among older individuals by 19% and to a similar degree as active forms of vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Carotenoids linked to fewer hip fractures - Nutra USA, 3/26/09 - "higher lycopene intake was associated with a lower risk of hip fracture, and non-vertebral fracture ... a weak but statistically un-significant protective trend was recorded total beta-carotene, but only for hip fractures ... No protective effects were observed for the other carotenoids" - [Abstract] - See lycopene at Amazon.com.
• Protective Effect of Total Carotenoid and Lycopene Intake on the Risk of Hip Fracture: A 17-Year Follow-Up From the Framingham Osteoporosis Study - J Bone Miner Res. 2009 Jan 12 - "Subjects with higher lycopene intake had lower risk of hip fracture (P trend=0.01), and non-vertebral fracture (P trend=0.02). A weak protective trend was observed for total beta-carotene for hip fracture alone but associations did not reach statistical significance (P trend=0.10). No significant associations were observed with alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin or lutein plus zeaxanthin. These results suggest a protective role of several carotenoids for bone health in older adults" - See lycopene at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Supplements Associated With Reduced Fracture Risk in Older Adults - Doctor's Guide, 3/23/09 - "The authors then pooled the results of only the 9 trials in which participants received doses of more than 400 international units per day. At this dosage, vitamin D supplements reduced non-vertebral fractures by 20% and hip fractures by 18% ... A greater reduction in risk was also seen among trial participants whose blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D achieved a greater increase" - [Science Daily] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Tea Drinking May Help Preserve Hip Structure in Elderly Women - Medscape, 10/29/08 - "The cross-sectional analysis revealed that mean total hip aBMD was 2.8% greater in tea drinkers ... Compared with non–tea drinkers, tea drinkers had a significantly higher aBMD at the total hip and trochanter sites but not at the femoral neck and intertrochanter sites" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin C Intake May Reduce Fracture Risk - Medscape, 9/15/08 - "Basically, people who had higher levels of vitamin C intake had half the rate of hip fractures as people who had the lowest vitamin C [levels]"
• Vitamin D deficiency increases hip fracture risk: researchers - Nutra USA, 8/20/08 - "women with the lowest 25(OH) vitamin D concentrations (47.6 nmol/L) at study entry had a significantly greater increased risk for subsequent hip fracture during the next seven years than did women with the highest concentrations (70.7 nmol/L)" - [Abstract] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and risk for hip fractures - Ann Intern Med. 2008 Aug 19;149(4):242-50 - "Low serum 25(OH) vitamin D concentrations are associated with a higher risk for hip fracture" - [Nutra USA] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Low Vitamin D Linked To Higher Risk Of Hip Fracture - Science Daily, 9/20/07 - "The risk of hip fractures was 77 percent higher among women whose 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels were at the lowest concentrations ... most experts think that people need at least 800 to 1,000 international units a day" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Physical Fitness More Important Than Nutrition to Prevent Hip Fracture - Medscape, 9/27/05 - "women who lacked mobility and strength were more apt to fall and fracture their hips"
• Folate and Vitamin B12 Prevent Hip Fracture in Stroke Patients - Medscape, 3/25/05 - "The magnitude of benefit is similar to that found in trials of alendronate and raloxifene, with considerably less potential risk. The fact that BMD did not change suggests the benefit derives from quality, rather than quantity, of bone"
• Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 Decrease Risk of Hip Fracture in Stroke Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/1/05 - "Patients who took folic acid and vitamin B12 after their stroke had a reduced risk of hip fracture compared to patients who took placebo"
• Vitamin A Levels Affect Hip Fracture Risk - Physician's Weekly, 10/4/04 - "women with the lowest concentrations of vitamin A had a 90% higher risk of hip fracture. Those with the highest concentrations were twice as likely as those with normal levels to sustain a hip fracture"
• Carpeted Wood Floors Reduce Hip Fracture Risk - WebMD, 4/30/04
• Vitamin D and Calcium Increase Bone Density and Reduce Falls After Hip Fracture - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 2/19/04
• Hoping to Avoid Hip Replacement? - Dr. Weil, 12/4/03
• Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in elderly women in Italy: clinical consequences and risk factors - Osteoporos Int. 2003 Jul 11 - "Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common among elderly Italian women ... Hypovitaminosis D is associated with worsening of the ability to perform activities of daily living and higher hip fracture prevalence. This finding should lead to an urgent population-based strategy to remedy this condition"

Other News:

• Maker Aware of 40% Failure in Hip Implant - NYTimes.com, 1/23/13 - "An internal analysis conducted by Johnson & Johnson in 2011 not long after it recalled a troubled hip implant estimated that the all-metal device would fail within five years in nearly 40 percent of patients who received it, newly disclosed court records show"
• Hip implant for long-term use - Science Daily, 5/4/12
• New coating for hip implants could prevent premature failure - Science Daily, 4/19/12
• Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants Have Higher Fail Rates - WebMD. 3/12/12
• Public Kept in Dark About Hip-Replacement Risks, Says BMJ - Medscape, 2/28/12 - "The wear and tear of metal on metal releases metal ions that can seep into local tissue, destroy muscle and bone, and leave patients with long-term disabilities ... These metal ions, which may be carcinogenic, also can become blood-borne and spread to the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, and kidneys"
• Knee Replacement Can Lead to Longer Life - Medscape, 2/10/12 - "Patients with severe osteoarthritis of the knee who undergo knee replacement have a 7-year mortality rate that is half that of those who don't undergo the procedure ... Also, those with knee replacements had a slightly lower rate of heart failure at 3 years (21.1%; HR, 0.89; P < .001) and at 7 years (40.9%; HR, 0.93; P < .001)"
• Complaints Soar on Hip Implants as Dangers Are Studied - NYTimes.com, 8/23/11 - "the Food and Drug Administration has received more than 5,000 reports since January about several widely used devices known as metal-on-metal hips, more than the agency had received about those devices in the previous four years combined ... Though immediate problems with the hip implants are not life-threatening, some patients have suffered crippling injuries caused by tiny particles of cobalt and chromium that the metal devices shed as they wear ... As problems and questions grow, most surgeons are abandoning the all-metal hips, saying they are unwilling to expose new patients to potential dangers when safer alternatives — mainly replacements that combine metal and plastic components — are available"
• Heavy metal: Titanium implant safety under scrutiny - Science Daily, 7/25/11 - "Titanium implants are routinely used for bone fractures as well as dental work. It has recently been shown that titanium-based implants both corrode and degrade, generating metallic debris. There is some concern over the increased concentrations of circulating metal-degradation products derived from these implants, and their potential harmful biological effects over a period of time, including hepatic injury and renal lesions"