Scientists are in the process of determining ways to keep bones strong and healthy in hopes of discovering how to prevent osteoporosis.

While some nutritionists believe that nutritional supplements such as vitamin D and calcium could be good for bone strength, researchers are examining a tissue culture that grows human bones.

Researchers from the University of Houston department of health have discovered a growing process similar to how bones grow in humans.

“We have manufactured a structure that has no synthetic components,” said Mark Clarke, the lead researcher. “It’s all made by the two cell types bones start with inside the body.”

One of their main goals behind this endeavor is to determine how bones are formed in hopes of getting a better understanding what’s good for them and what causes fractures. The researchers are primarily investigating the cause of weakened bones for post-menopausal women and spinal cord patients.

Clarke has had previous experience with studying bones, having worked with NASA studying the effects of calcium on bone loss.

While nutritional supplements such as vitamin D may help with pain and discomfort, researchers are looking into how acupuncture stimulates the brain into making the body feel better.

According to findings published in Brain Research, scientists have discovered a sensation called deqi that is obtained through the treatment, which deactivates the feelings of pain in the brain, resulting in the person thinking they feel better.

These findings have given a broader understanding of how acupuncture affects the brain, leading scientists to believe that there should be further investigation into factors such as the exact mechanism that occurs with the treatment.

“The results are fascinating,” said researcher Dr. Aziz Asghar. “Whether such brain deactivations constitute a mechanism which underlies or contributes to the therapeutic effect of acupuncture is an intriguing possibility which requires further research.”

The team is currently researching if acupuncture has the ability to successfully treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and depression. Previous studies have indicated that the holistic treatment works on knee pain and migraines.

A new study has found that Vitamin D, readily available in supplements or cod liver oil, can counter the effects of Crohn’s disease.

John White, an endocrinologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, led a team of scientists from McGill University and the Université de Montréal who present their findings about the inflammatory bowel disease in the latest Journal of Biological Chemistry.

“Our data suggests, for the first time, that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to Crohn’s disease,” says Dr. White, a professor in McGill’s Department of Physiology, noting that people from northern countries, which receive less sunlight that is necessary for the fabrication of Vitamin D by the human body, are particularly vulnerable to Crohn’s disease.

Vitamin D, in its active form (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D), is a hormone that binds to receptors in the body’s cells. Dr. White’s interest in Vitamin D was originally in its effects in mitigating cancer. Because his results kept pointing to Vitamin D’s effects on the immune system, specifically the innate immune system that acts as the body’s first defense against microbial invaders, he investigated Crohn’s disease. “It’s a defect in innate immune handling of intestinal bacteria that leads to an inflammatory response that may lead to an autoimmune condition,” stresses Dr. White.

What Vitamin D does

Dr. White and his team found that Vitamin D acts directly on the beta defensin 2 gene, which encodes an antimicrobial peptide, and the NOD2 gene that alerts cells to the presence of invading microbes. Both Beta-defensin and NOD2 have been linked to Crohn’s disease. If NOD2 is deficient or defective, it cannot combat invaders in the intestinal tract.

What’s most promising about this genetic discovery, says Dr. White, is how it can be quickly put to the test. “Siblings of patients with Crohn’s disease that haven’t yet developed the disease might be well advised to make sure they’re vitamin D sufficient. It’s something that’s easy to do, because they can simply go to a pharmacy and buy Vitamin D supplements. The vast majority of people would be candidates for Vitamin D treatment.”

“This discovery is exciting, since it shows how an over-the-counter supplement such as Vitamin D could help people defend themselves against Crohn’s disease,” says Marc J. Servant, a professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Pharmacy and study collaborator. “We have identified a new treatment avenue for people with Crohn’s disease or other inflammatory bowel diseases.”

This study was funded by a grant from McGill University.

A new study has proven that nutritional supplements such as vitamin D and calcium can prevent bone fractures, a practice many physicians have been recommending for quite some time.

Research conducted at UC Davis in Sacramento, California, revealed that individuals who take the nutritional supplements on a daily basis reduces the risk of bone fractures regardless of gender and age.

The findings represent a large effort from researchers around the world, determining the benefits of calcium and vitamin D in post-menopausal women, adult men and younger patients of both genders.

Various reports have confirmed that the supplements help post-menopausal women prevent osteoporosis, which affects roughly 8 million American women.

The researchers discovered that combining both of the supplements provides better results than when they are taken separately.

“This combination of supplements benefits both women and men of all ages, which is not something we fully expected to find,” explained co-author John Robbins, a professor at UC Davis. “We now need to investigate the best dosage, duration and optimal way for people to take it.”

Post-menopausal women who suffer from HIV have a higher risk of bone fractures, a new study suggests.

Although nutritional supplements such as vitamin D and calcium can help increase the strength of bones, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism indicates that therapies used to make HIV patients live longer can be detrimental to bone mineral density.

Previous studies have indicated that HIV patients have a higher prevalence of low bone density due to metabolic complications brought on by treatment.

It has also been found that post-menopausal women are among the highest groups for those at risk for osteoporotic fractures.

The new study decided to combine the groups, noting that there was a significant risk factor for those who suffer from both issues, making HIV-positive post-menopausal women one of the most susceptible groups to the ailment.

“Estrogen protects against the effect of cytokines on bone resorption,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Michael Yin. “Therefore, as HIV-positive women become estrogen deficient during menopause, they may be at higher risk for accelerated bone loss and fracture.”

Vitamin D can be a beneficial natural supplement as a new study has found that levels of the nutrient are associated with survival rates of lymphoma patients.

The nutrient is most commonly received from sunlight exposure, but can also be found in various food and dairy products. It’s most known for its link to blood and bone health.

Results presented at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting in New Orleans suggested that 50 percent of the 374 research subjects that were diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma had a vitamin D deficiency. Scientists say that this gave patients a twofold greater risk of dying.

This research is reportedly the strongest link between vitamin D levels and cancer progression that scientists have been able to discover. Some doctors feel this will help them in treatment recommendations for cancer patients.

While scientists don’t know how vitamin D comes into play with cancer treatment, lead researcher Dr. Matthew Drake feels that the positive outcome is the most important thing.

“The exact roles that vitamin D might play in the initiation or progression of cancer is unknown, but we do know that the vitamin plays a role in regulation of cell growth and death, among other processes important in limiting cancer,” he said.

Studies have previously estabilished a link between colorectal cancer and a diet high in fat and low in fiber, vitamin D and calcium.

Now, in a new research, scientists at Rockefeller University have shown what happens to colon tissue when mice are fed such a diet.

The study has been published in the November 2009 issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

“There is convincing evidence that increased intake of red meat, processed meat and alcohol can increase risk of colorectal cancer, whereas greater consumption of dietary fiber, milk and calcium might decrease risk,” says Peter Holt, a senior research associate in the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism at Rockefeller. “Our findings show that a Western diet induces oxidative stress and alters immune responses in the colon of mice long before tumors occur.”

To reach the conclusion, researchers fed experimental mice either a standard diet containing five percent fat and ample amounts of calcium and vitamin D or a Western diet containing 20 percent fat and adequate but marginal levels of calcium and vitamin D for three or six months.

As expected, animals consuming the Western diet were heavier and had more fat tissue than those on the control diet. Microarray analysis identified 41 genes that were being expressed at significantly different levels between the Western diet and control animals. Most of these genes were related to metabolic processes such as lipid metabolism and glutathione metabolism, which is important for preventing damage caused by oxidation.

In addition, expression of a series of genes collectively associated with immune and inflammatory responses was altered. The diet also increased the number of macrophages, cells associated with inflammation in the colon, as well as several proteins such as myeloperoxidase and MCP-1 and colonic oxidative stress genes associated with inflammation.

While some nutritionists believe that nutritional supplements such as vitamin D and calcium could be good for bone strength, researchers are examining a tissue culture that grows human bones.

Researchers from the University of Houston department of health have discovered a growing process similar to how bones grow in humans.

“We have manufactured a structure that has no synthetic components,” said Mark Clarke, the lead researcher. “It’s all made by the two cell types bones start with inside the body.”

One of their main goals behind this endeavor is to determine how bones are formed, in hopes of getting a better understanding what’s good for them, and what causes fractures. The researchers are primarily investigating the cause of weakened bones for post-menopausal women and spinal cord patients.

Clarke has had previous experience with studying bones, having worked with NASA studying the effects of calcium on bone loss.

New research is suggesting that there is a link between depression and a loss of bone mass, which could lead to bone breakage and osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is more common among women than men, and is a condition that causes bones to weaken and possibly fracture, which is why some nutritionists recommend taking nutritional supplements such as vitamin D and calcium to keep bones strong.

According to a study found in the journal Biological Psychiatry, it was found that after testing thousands of individuals, there was substantially less bone density in depressed individuals than the mentally healthy.

The results showed that after testing 2,327 depressed and 21,141 non-depressed patients, depressed individuals were at a higher risk of osteoporosis.

“All individuals psychiatrically diagnosed with major depression are at risk for developing osteoporosis, with depressed young women showing the highest risk,” wrote the researchers.

Because of these findings, the researchers feel that it’s a good idea for depressed patients to get checkups to try and prevent the development of osteoporosis.

Researchers with the University of Rochester Medical Center followed 166 women undergoing treatment for breast cancer and found that nearly 70 percent had low levels of vitamin D in their blood. The insufficient levels could contribute to decreased bone mass and increased risk of bone fractures.

“Vitamin D is essential to maintaining bone health, and women with breast cancer have accelerated bone loss due to the nature of hormone therapy and chemotherapy. It’s important for women and their doctors to work together to boost their vitamin D intake,” said Dr. Luke Peppone from Rochester’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.

Previous studies have shown that nearly half of all men and women are deficient in the nutrient.