Vitamin K2 for bones and arteries: strong marketing, thin trial evidence
Supplement makers sell K2 (menaquinone) for stronger bones and cleaner arteries. The observational signal is real; the randomised trials, so far, mostly are not.
What builds bone density? Loading the skeleton does more than a supplement bottle
Progressive resistance and impact training raised bone mineral density in trials, and a landmark study found heavy lifting safe for women with low bone mass. Calcium and vitamin D did not lower fracture risk.
Calcium supplements and the heart: a signal that never fully resolved
Meta-analyses found calcium pills raised heart-attack risk by around a quarter. A later review — funded by an osteoporosis foundation — found no such link. The disagreement is the story.
Signs of vitamin D deficiency, and why most adults are told to skip the routine test
Real deficiency shows as bone pain, muscle weakness or, in children, rickets. But US surveys suggest most people meet their needs, and both a 2011 and a 2024 review advise against routine testing in healthy adults.
A bone-building drug did not speed pelvic fracture healing
Abaloparatide reliably raises bone density, so it seemed a natural candidate to help fractures knit. A randomised trial found no benefit — and healing numerically favoured placebo.
Is it normal to shrink with age? Some loss is — but rapid loss is a warning sign
Losing a little height with age is expected. But marked loss tracks real risk: men who lost 3 cm or more had 45% higher mortality, and women who lost over 5 cm had roughly 50% higher hip-fracture risk.
Osteoporosis in men is under-recognised, and the deadliest fractures fall on them
Men break fewer bones than women but die more often after a hip fracture. No major body recommends screening every man, and the US task force says the evidence is simply not there yet.
US task force reaffirms bone-density screening for women 65 and older
The 2025 USPSTF statement keeps a B recommendation for women 65+ and for higher-risk younger postmenopausal women. The fracture benefit is real but small, and evidence gaps remain.
Can exercise rebuild bone after menopause? A trial says heavy lifting helped
In the LIFTMOR trial, brief twice-weekly heavy lifting raised spine bone density in postmenopausal women with low bone mass, while a gentle home programme lost ground. A Cochrane review finds a smaller but real effect.
Snow looked like the cause of winter hip fractures until the temperature was added
In 2,292 hip fractures across six cities in Nagano, snowfall raised the odds of admission — until the models adjusted for how cold it was, at which point the association disappeared.
Dairy prevented fractures in one large trial and nothing in the cohort data. Both hold.
Adding milk, yoghurt and cheese cut hip fractures 46% in Australian aged-care residents. In the general over-50 population, dietary calcium intake shows no association with fracture risk at all.
Senolytics: two randomised trials, and no confirmed clinical benefit yet
A phase 2 trial of dasatinib plus quercetin missed its bone endpoint. A senolytic injected into the eye produced a 5.6-letter vision gain whose confidence interval crosses zero.
A DXA body-fat Z-score flagged twice as many athletes with absent periods as BMI did
In 388 female athletes, a per cent fat Z-score below −1.0 more than doubled sensitivity for amenorrhoea against standard BMI thresholds. It gave up specificity to do it.
Three months of an osteoporosis drug matched twelve on bone density in a 50-woman trial
The LIDA trial tested whether romosozumab's bone-building window closes early enough to shorten treatment. It met non-inferiority on hip bone density — at a single centre, with 50 participants, over one year.
A review of 158 studies grades the evidence for non-hormonal menopause remedies
Black cohosh, Chinese herbal medicine and vitamin D reached moderate certainty for specific outcomes. Most of the rest of the field — 158 studies deep — sits at low or very low certainty.
Nine of the 14 medicines the CHMP backed in September were biosimilars
Seven of those nine were denosumab. The committee's September opinions also covered an RSV antibody for infants, a first EU treatment for IgG4-related disease, and four withdrawn applications.
Endometriosis does not always stop at menopause. A European guide says so
An EMAS clinical guide sets out how to manage endometriosis after menopause, advising against oestrogen-only hormone therapy even in women who have had a hysterectomy.