Overview Osteoporosis and vitamin D

Summary

• FACT: Bones need Calcium (this has been known for a very long time)
• FACT: Vitamin D improves Calcium bioavailability (3X ?)
• FACT: Should not take > 750 mg of Calcium if taking lots of vitamin D (Calcium becomes too bio-available)
• FACT: Adding vitamin D via Sun, UV, or supplements increased vitamin D in the blood
• FACT: Vitamin D supplements are very low cost
• FACT: Many trials, studies. reviews, and meta-analysis agree: adding vitamin D reduces osteoporosis
• FACT: Toxic level of vitamin D is about 4X higher than the amount needed to reduce osteoporosis
• FACT: Co-factors help build bones.
• FACT: Vitamin D Receptor can restrict Vitamin D from getting to many tissues, such as bones
• It appears that to TREAT Osteoporosis:
•        Calcium OR vitamin D is ok
•        Calcium + vitamin D is good
•        Calcium + vitamin D + other co-factors is great
•        Low-cost Vitamin D Receptor activators sometimes may be helpful
• CONCLUSION: To PREVENT many diseases, including Osteoporosis, as well as TREAT Osteoporosis
• Category Osteoporosis has 215 items
• Category Bone Health has 307 items

Note: Osteoporosis causes bones to become fragile and prone to fracture
  Osteoarthritis is a disease where damage occurs to the joints at the end of the bones

See also Vitamin D Life

• Overview - Bone Fractures
• Overview: Vitamin D and falling
• Osteoporosis treatment with denosumab is helped by Vitamin D and Calcium – 2017
• 4X increase in osteoporosis visits, but vitamin D information is still not available – May 2013
• Vitamin D and Bone Health – UK National Osteoporosis Society – April 2013
• High Selenium intake cuts risk of Osteoporosis in half - meta-analysis - July 2023
• World Osteoporosis Day sponsored by Big Pharma – does not give good sun or vitamin D info Oct 20 2013
• Calcium and bone disorders in pregnancy – May 2012
• Osteoporosis and vitamin D are important in men too – 10 years after women – Aug 2012
• Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium, etc together increase bone density – Jan 2012
• International Osteoporosis Foundation: Vitamin D is the first of three ways to make unbreakable bones – Oct 2011
• Do not just take more Calcium if you fear Osteoporosis- Mercola Dec 2010 from book: The Calcium Lie
• Overview of Magnesium
• Fewer falls and fractures as vitamin D is increased – 1800 to 4000 IU July 2010 2 abstracts with chart
• Osteoporosis medicines - several include vitamin D from National Osteoporosis Foundation
• Vitamin D recommendations by Osteoporosis Canada - Sept 2010 800-2000 IU daily, 10,000 IU is probably safe
• Review of vitamin D pathways to bone health - July 2010 with many summaries of vitamin D INTERVENTIONS
• Low Calcium and vitamin D makes osteomalacia but either makes osteoporosis – Sept 2010
• Overview Seniors lack Vitamin D
• Prefer more than 30 ng of Vitamin D and 700 mg Calcium for Osteoporosis – Mar 2011
• Wrist fracture is also associated with vitamin D inadequacy – Feb 2011
• Half of orthopedic surgeries had vitamin D less than 32 ng – Dec 2010
• Noticed bones heal faster when more than 60 ng of vitamin D
• Low vitamin D before orthopedic surgery – dark skin 5X more likely – Oct 2010
  • suspect not just dark skin, but those also at risk of being low on vitamin D: sunlight, elderly, medical problems, etc.
• Vitamin D and Calcium for the prevention of fractures
• Cochrane review finds that Vitamin D helps prevent fractures– downloaded Feb 2010
• Osteoporosis reduced by 800 or more IU of vitamin D - July 2010
• Would there be fewer stress and bone fractures with vitamin D?
• 890 IU of vitamin D and 1200 mg Calcium improved bone density – July 2010
• Both Calcium AND vitamin D needed to prevent elderly fractures – Sept 2010
• Calcium and just 900 IU of vitamin D can improve Bone Density – July 2010
• 400 IU of Vitamin D Magnesium and Calcium helped Twin bones – Feb 2011
  • 400 IU is the least amount of vitamin D - wonder how low of vitamin D needed if take all of the co-factors
• 75 percent of hip fractures associated with vitamin D deficiency - Jan 2011
• Low vitamin D may account for half of the reasons for osteomalacia – Oct 2010
• Fewer falls and fractures as vitamin D is increased – 1800 to 4000 IU July 2010
• Calcium and Vit D reduce fractures but increase kidney stones - 2006 when take 2000 mg Calcium
• Calcium level somewhat higher due to vitamin D might be a problem – June 2010
• Calcium citrate and more than 800 IU of vitamin D to treat Osteoporosis – Mar 2011
• 1800 to 4000 IU vitamin D to get 30 to-44 ng no risk osteo - July 2010.pdf file
• Cadavers with good skeletons had 30 ng of vitamin D – Feb 2010
• Osteoporosis increasing and vitamin D decreasing in Middle East - Oct 2011
• Very few people have an allergic reaction to Vitamin D start slowly so as to check for allergies
• Osteoporosis medicine teriparatide increased active vitamin D by 25 pcnt– RCT June 2012
• Osteoporosis is reduced by vitamin D, genes determine how much is needed – meta-analysis Nov 2012
• Osteoporosis spot therapies: vitamin D with Calcium was the most popular – Feb 2013
• Safety profile of Osteoporosis drugs, including vitamin D – review Nov 2013

Bone Density decreases with age

Osteppenia and Osteoporosis Orthobullets 2020

See also Osteoporosis-studies.com

A few of their excellent tags. Ceased updating in Aug 2015

See also Web

• Improved Quality of Life with Osteoporotic Disorders if have high Vitamin D - Dec 2022 10.3390/ijerph192417023 FREE ODF
• Clinical Trials of Osteoporosis with vitamin D INTERVENTION 260 trials as of Dec 2022
• CLICK HERE for Strong Bones and Vitamin D
  • Dr. Susan Ott at the University of Washington

• The Myth of Osteoporosis Author's website of the June 2011 revised book
  The drugs offer minimal (if any) benefit amidst ever-increasing evidence for serious harm, but they continue to be widely prescribed while massive profits roll in for the companies that produce them.''
• Osteroporosis Vitamins web site in Canada Site owner has treated her own Osteopenia
  talks extensively about 5000 IU of Vitamin D, Magnesium, Vitamin K, Strontium, Calcium, etc.
• Dr. Sato has now Proven, Three Different Times, that Sunlight Exposure can Reverse Osteoporosis and Prevent Hip Fracture. Is Anyone Paying Attention?
  March 2013 Sunlight Institute: Showed that being indoors (in hospital) greatly decreased bone mass and strength
• Osteoporosis Is Scurvy of the Bone, Not Calcium Deficiency Green Medical information
  Need Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2
  Vitamin C: Mineralizes the bone and stimulates bone forming cells to grow, Prevents too much degradation of bone, Dampens oxidative stress, Is vital in collagen synthesis.
• Treating Osteoporosis UC San Diego
  Describes WHO’s Fracture Risk Assessment (FRAX) Tool., which considers
  Bone Mineral density, Age, Sex, Weight, Height, Fracture history, Parental history of hip fracture,
  Smoking status, Alcohol consumption, Prescription drug use, Other disease diagnoses But NOT Vitamin D level
• Men Get Osteoporosis, Too NYT Oct 2016
  "Men experience about half as many osteoporotic fractures as women. But when a man breaks his hip because of osteoporosis, he is more likely than a woman similarly afflicted to be permanently disabled and twice as likely to die within a year"
• . . :because doctors, too, are often unaware of the many factors that put men at risk of osteoporosis, including disorders like celiac disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (C.O.P.D.) and treatments for other health problems, like depression, gastric-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and prostate cancer"
• Osteoporosis malady MalCards has the following graphic

Top 20 diseases related to Osteoporosis via genes ( most of which are associated with low vitamin d)

• Osteoporosis Myth: The Dangers of High Bone Mineral Density Green MedInfo - Aug 2012
  Make the case for reduction of bone density it just feature of aging
  Fails to notice that aging is also associated with reduction in vitamin D and Magnesium (and Vitamin K2?)
  "Bone Mineral Density is NOT Equivalent to Bone Strength"
  "Breast Cancer is 200% to 300% higher if high bone mineral density"

Most of the NIH article in Jan 2011 was mainly on exercise to reduce osteoporosis

Vitamin D was barely mentioned

"Like a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, exercise helps strengthen bones at any age"
__No mention was made of vitamin D supplements, Vitamin D co-factors, UV, Vitamin K, or Whole Body Vibration
Did have the following nice graphic however

• http://www.drdavidgrimes.com/2013/11/osteoporosis-forget-calcium-and-vitamin.htmlOsteoporosis : forget calcium and vitamin D - but what about HRT ? Dr. Grimes blog post Nov 2013
  Vitamin D is useful, but women should consider taking HRT from menopause to 20 years before death
  But not take HRT if had Breast Cancer

Vitamin D, with or without Fosamax, is highly rated to TREAT Osteoporosis at Rate A Drug July 2011

Note: Vitamin D does even better than Fosamax at PREVENTION

Hypothesis: Moderate osteoporosis itself is beneficial for bones - Oct 2019

Med Hypotheses. 2019 Oct 10;134:109427. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109427
Xiong Z1, Wu J1, Liu Z1, Jing W2.

There have been increasing numbers of reports that anti-osteoporosis drugs cause osteonecrosis. A typical example is medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ) which can cause massive necrosis and defects of the jaws. Thus, the dosage and effects of anti-osteoporosis drugs should be re-examined. Our hypothesis is that primary moderate osteoporosis itself is beneficial for bones and should not be excessively treated other than vitamin D, calcium supplementation and functional exercises. The self-repair and anti-infection abilities of bone depend on its organic tissues including stem cells, blood vessels, osteoclastic and osteogenic factors in bone, which jointly fight against invading pathogens and repair bone damage. Recent evidence supports age-related changes in mesenchymal stem cell including loss of self-renewal and increases in senescent cell numbers. Thus, the number of MSCs and vessels need to be increased to achieve functions similar to those in young people. This requires dissolving a portion of inorganic materials and providing extra space to hold more cells and blood vessels. In contrast, anti-osteoporosis drugs prevent bone destruction, and increase mineralization that occupies the space of organic materials, reduces bone immunity and self-repair. Moreover, long term use of anti-osteoporosis drugs also have negative effects on long bones and cartilages. Therefore, moderate age-related osteoporosis is natural in humans to protect bones. Excessive treatment of osteoporosis weakens immunity and self-repair.

Admin of Vitamin D Life put together a page on Strong Bones in 2008 before learning about vitamin D

CLICK HERE which includes
Dr. Colgan recommends the following supplements for Strong Bones (page 140)
400 mcg of Vitamin K daily in the form of menaquininone, MK4 or MK7,
2000 mg of calcium carbonate, (update: this is too much if you also take > 2000 IU of vitamin D)
1,000 mg of phosphorus,
800 msg of magnesium citrate,
350 mg of strontium citrate,
20 mg of zinc picolinate,
200 mg of silicon (Horsetail extract),
3 mg of boron,
25 mcg of Vitamin D3, (1000 IU)