A study
published September 13, 2016, presents three case studies of patients who took
strontium citrate (680 mg strontium per day) for six years, five years, and
four years (Cases 1, 2, and 3, respectively) and then stopped taking it for two
years, one year, and one year (Cases 1, 2, and 3, respectively). The study
gives the increases in BMD with SrC and the decreases when the supplement was
discontinued. Of note is the fact that
both the increases and decreases vary with the site (lumbar spine or total hip),
the individual, and the number of years of use or discontinuation of SrC. Also,
keep in mind that stopping any of the osteoporosis drugs will also result in
loss of some of the BMD gains because there is no cure for osteoporosis.
Case 1
A 76-year-old
female with osteoporosis (OP) took alendronate weekly for 10 years till 2006,
then every other week for another year and was initiated on a drug holiday. She
started self-administrating SrC (680mg/day) in 2006 and continued to take daily
calcium (600mg bid) and vitamin D (2000units). Serum calcium and Vitamin D
(32-66ng/ml) remained normal. She continued SrC on her own till 2012, when she
agreed to stop taking it due to concerns about accumulation and toxicity.
On dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, total hip mean BMD increased 2.7% in
the first 2 years on SrC after stopping alendronate, and continued to increase
to a maximum of 9.2% after 6 years of treatment with SrC (1.53%/year). Lumbar
Spine (LS) BMD was non-diagnostic due to degenerative changes in the spine.
In the first 2 years off of SrC, total
hip mean BMD decreased by 5.7%.
Case 2
A 64-year-old
female with history of OP, which was diagnosed in 2001, took Actonel 35mg
weekly for 5 years, stopped for more than a year and resumed Actonel
intermittently for another 2 years before starting drug holiday. She was taking
Calcium 500 mg in the multivitamin and 2500 mg of vitamin D. Serum calcium and
vitamin D were within normal range. She started strontium citrate (680mg strontium)
daily in 2009 and took it for 5 years, stopping it in 2014.
Yearly
assessment of her BMD via DEXA scan showed an increase of 4.3% at LS spine
(L1-L4 vertebrae), and 7.6 % at total hip within 1 year of SrC treatment. At 5
years, BMD increase was 6.5 % at LS and 12% for mean total hip. She agreed to
stop SrC at this time.
One year after stopping SrC, LS BMD
decreased by 9.1 % and total hip BMD decreased by 4.2%.
Case 3
A 59-year-old female with OP was
treated with weekly alendronate for 4 years till 2007, when she stopped it due
to concerns for osteonecrosis of jaw. She was advised to resume alendronate in
2008 due to declining BMD, but opted not to take it.
She started self-administration of
680mg of SrC daily in February 2009 and continued it for four years till
January 2013, when she stopped it due to myalgias and concern about risk for
toxicity. Due to her history of ulcerative colitis, she was limited in dairy
intake, although she averaged half a cup of almond milk daily and took calcium
supplements. Serum calcium and vitamin D were within normal range.
BMD via DEXA scan showed an
increase of 10.7 % at LS (L1-L4) at 2 years after starting SrC, and 4.3 % at
total hip.
BMD
decreased by 14% at LS and by 6.4% at total hip a year after stopping SrC.
Mirza FS,
Azim S, Bhargava A (2016) Change in Bone Mineral Density with Strontium
Citrate: An Illusion or Reality. J Nutrition Health Food Sci 4(3): 1-3. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15226/jnhfs.2016.00167
