This month I want to start by welcoming all new readers who have subscribed in the last few months. I hope you will find this newsletter useful. Some months it focuses on scientific studies. Other times it offers practical tips.

This month focus is on recent scientific studies.

1. Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York have been studying Wnt genes and their effects on bone building. In an issue of the Hospital journal the noted that these genes may offer future treatment. They said, "Pharmacologically targeting components of the Wnt signaling pathway will allow for the manipulation of bone formation and remodeling and will have several orthopedic applications including enhancing bone formation in nonunion and osteoporosis and restricting pathologic bone formation in osteogenic tumors and heterotopic ossification."

2. There have been a series of papers published recently that have indicated that post menopausal women with Osteoporosis may be at risk for cardiovascular disease - that their arteries at 'stiffer'.

In June the Journal of Hypertension had a paper "suggesting that postmenopausal women with osteoporosis may have more advanced carotid atherosclerosis than those with a normal bone mass."

This connection between low bone density and cardiovascular disease is not fully understood. But I share the idea since there are so many things that we can do to improve ardiovascular risks. If you are looking for specific suggestions for your own life, why not ask your health care provider?

3. Some of you have asked me to report on vibration therapy. When I first began researching the topic, most of the studies listed by sellers of these machines we on mice or other animals. Human trials were almost non-existent.

I said I would keep looking. Well, in July the Clincical Medical Journal published the results of a new study about vibration therapy done in Beijing. I offer you the essentials from their abstract.

If you want to read the entire article you will find it in the English language China Medical Journal of July 5, 2008.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to determine whether noninvasive, mechanically mediated vibration would inhibit the decline in bone mineral density (BMD) that follows menopause, enhance the BMD of the lumbar and femoral neck, and reduce chronic back pain in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

METHODS: A total of 116 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis participated in this study, and they were divided into groups A (66 patients) and B (50).

Group A received vibration treatment (Subjects vertically stand on the vibration platform, with a vibration frequency of 30 Hz, amplitude of 5 mm; they received the treatment five times per week, ten minutes each time and totally for six months), whereas

Group B served as controls without any treatment.

L2 - 4 BMD, bilateral femoral neck BMD, and body mass index (BMI) were recorded before the treatment or at the third and sixth months of the treatment respectively. After the ending of the treatment, the change of BMD in each group was compared and analyzed. Chronic back pain was evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) at baseline and the third and sixth months of the treatment.

RESULTS: Of the 116 women, 94 including 51 women from group A ((61.23 +/- 8.20) years) and 43 women from group B ((63.73 +/- 5.45) years), completed the study. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics including age, BMI, menopausal years, lumbar BMD, femoral neck BMD, and VAS between the two groups. The lumbar BMD of the 51 women in group A increased by 1.3% (P = 0.034) after vibration treatment for 3 months and by 4.3% at the sixth month (P = 0.000).

The lumbar BMD in group B was decreased at the third month, but there was not statistical significance (P > 0.05). At the sixth month, it was decreased by 1.9% (P < 0.05).

The femoral neck BMD of the 51 women in group A was slightly increased after vibration treatment for 3 months, but without statistical significance (P > 0.05). At the sixth month, the BMD was increased by 3.2% (P < 0.05). In group B, the BMD was not decreased significantly (P = 0.185) at the third month, but decreased significantly at the sixth month (1.7%) (P < 0.05) compared with the baseline.

Chronic back pain (VAS) reduced more significantly in group A at the third and the sixth months (P < 0.05) after vibration therapy in comparison with the baseline. The BMI was not significantly changed in the two groups during the period of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Vibration therapy appears to be useful in reducing chronic back pain and increasing the femoral neck and lumbar BMD in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

That's it for this month. BUT PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES.

1. If you get notice that you have been unsubscribed from the Newsletter but want to stay on, please just go to the web site and subscribe again. I can not do it for you because I set the system so I do not control email addresses - that way I can never be accused of spam. I know it is inconvenient. I regret the inconvenience to you. But an accusation of spam could mean that the Newsletter would be shut down.

2. If you want to email me, be sure that Osteopenia is in the subject line. I have an spam filter so I only open emails with Osteopenia in the subject ine.

3. VITACOST IS BACK! Vitacost, as some of you know is an company that sells brand name supplements at deep discounts. There had been some glitches over the summer and I removed the links. Now there is a VITACOST link on the Products page and slowly I am trying to add them to some of the inner pages.

I am delighted to have Vitacost back for 3 reasons. First, I really trust this company, They have physicians on board. They offer most brands at 70 - 85% off retail.

Second as I have said before, this web site was invited to 'affiliate status with the company and when your order through a link on the web site, they give a small percent of the total of your purchase to us. That income is one of the reasons why I have been able to keep the site as a 'general' site - free iinformation for all...free newsletter etc. I DO NOT want to turn this site into a 'membership site'.

My third reason is that as the number of pages on the site grow, and topics are addressed on a variety of pages, I think have wanted to add a search engine.

I do not want to install google search because it is mostly ads. I have found a private search engine that I can install for a monthly fee. I am hoping the Vitacost income could pay for this search engine,

But please, only use companies that YOU believe in. Just because I like a company, does not mean it is a good one for you.

Thank you for reading this far.....

Until next month

Kate