BACKGROUND There is currently no standard practice for the monitoring of patients receiving treatment for osteoporosis. Repeated dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is commonly used for monitoring treatment response, but it has its limitations. Bone turnover markers have advantages over DXA as they are non-invasive, relatively cheap and can detect changes in bone turnover rates earlier. Howe...

Patients with poorly controlled noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) are shown to have higher bone mass. However, the influence of changes in glycemic control on bone turnover is not known. To clarify whether metabolic improvement of poorly controlled NIDDM affects bone turnover, markers for glucose, mineral, and bone metabolism were assessed before and after glycemic control for 3 we...

OBJECTIVE Acromegaly is characterized by a persistent hypersecretion of GH and provides information on long-term effects of GH on bone metabolism. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of gonadal status and disease activity on bone metabolism in active acromegaly. METHODS Seventy-three consecutive patients with active acromegaly: 40 women and 33 men (50 +/- 13 (mean +/- s.d.) and 49...

Development of the human skeleton begins in early embryonic life and continues through childhood into early adulthood. The acquisition of peak bone mass during these vulnerable periods may impact on skeletal fragility in later adult years. Once the skeleton has reached maturity, bone remodelling continues with periodic replacement of old bone with new at the same location. Bone biomarkers are s...

In recent years, there has been both an increasing awareness of, and interest in, bone health which has been combined with a recognition that nutritional factors may have an influential role in developing and maintaining bone status. In contrast to the situation approximately 15 years ago, when only 5 % of general practitioners acknowledged the occurrence of osteoporosis, this disorder of bone ...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of methotrexate (MTX) on bone mineral density (BMD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS One hundred and sixteen non-steroid-treated RA subjects (90 women) were studied in a prospective, longitudinal, non-randomized study. Subjects started MTX (n=36) or sulphasalazine (n=23) or continued long-term (>5 yr) treatment with MTX (n=28) or other disease-modifying ...

BACKGROUND Subclinical thyroid dysfunction might influence a bone health. We evaluated whether subclinical hypothyroidism adversely affects bone health including bone mineral density (BMD), level of vitamin D, and bone turnover status in patients with hip fracture. METHODS We evaluated 471 patients aged 50 years or older, who underwent hip fracture surgeries. BMD, level of vitamin D, bone tur...