Protein Believed to Cause Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

Researchers have identified a protein that likely causes osteoporosis in women after menopause. In experiments on mice, the research team from Tokyo’s Keio University School of Medicine and other institutions found that a decrease in the secretion of estrogen enhances the function of HIF1 alpha protein. Once the amount of estrogen secreted by the ovaries begins to decline around the time of menopause, HIF1 alpha protein in osteoclasts increases.

Normal mice after menopause showed decreased femoral bone density compared with premenopausal levels, but mice whose genes were manipulated so as not to produce the HIF1 alpha protein did not show a decline of femoral bone density even after menopause. Moreover, a substance to inhibit the function of the HIF1 alpha protein that was given to postmenopausal mice led to an increase of bone density compared with premenopausal levels. The discovery is expected to lead to the development of an effective medicine to prevent osteoporosis.

The study is to be published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Science.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201309100058

 

 

From Osteoporosis to Osteopenia with Strontium Citrate

After five and a half years of taking strontium citrate (680 mg strontium daily), I went from osteoporosis to osteopenia. I was probably at the osteopenia stage much earlier, but I waited four years between my previous DEXA scan, which showed improvement at all sites but still left me with osteoporosis, and this one. My density increased 34% in the lumbar spine and 55% in the left hip! These numbers are phenomenal! Even if up to 50% of the change in BMD were attributed to the effect of strontium, which has a higher atomic number than calcium and will affect DEXA measurements, the numbers would still be great. My BMD is now 0.871 g/cm2 at the spine from L1- L4 (T-score -1.6), 0.692 g/cm2 at the left femoral neck (-1.4 T-score), and 0.775 g/cm2 at the left total hip (-1.4 T-score). Osteopenia is defined as T-scores < -1.0 and -2.5.