Study finds supplement use could save US billions
The findings of a study commissioned by the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance, which were presented at a Congressional hearing on September 22 2004, revealed that billions of dollars could be saved each year by supplementation with commonly available nutritional products. The study, conducted by the Lewin Group, focused on calcium with vitamin D, folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, glucosamine and saw palmetto.

The study found that daily consumption of 1200 milligrams calcium with vitamin D would save 13.9 billion in hospital, nursing facility and physician expenditures over a projected five year period by preventing hip fractures in people over the age of 65. An estimated 734,000 hip fractures would be avoided if this level of calcium supplementation was implemented in this population.

When folic acid was examined, it was estimated that if 10.5 million women began taking 400 micrograms daily in addition to those already taking the vitamin, as much as $321,853,000 in savings would result from the 600 infants who would not be born with a neural tube defect.

The study summarized the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in cardiovascular disease and noted that the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality had recommended that multicenter randomized clinical trials be conducted to validate early promising results. Randomized, double-blind clinical trials of glucosamine in arthritis and saw palmetto in benign prostatic hyperplasia are also being conducted to confirm the benefits found in preliminary studies. This will enable researchers to determine the reductions in health service utilization and health care cost savings that would result from widespread supplementation with these nutrients.

Professor Jeffrey Blumberg of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University commented on the study: “As our country faces an ever-growing crisis in health care, it is important to recognize the role that dietary supplements can play in reducing our burden of disease and the costs to manage it.”

Osteoporosis
The following nutrients, hormones, and drugs should be considered in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis:

1. Proper nutritional supplementation with vitamins and minerals, in particular calcium. Six capsules a day of Bone Assure provide the ideal dosages and forms of calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, and vitamin D3, boron and other nutrients to protect bone density.
2. Weight-bearing exercise may help increase bone density.
3. Supplemental hormones such as DHEA, 25-50 mg a day and melatonin, 300 mcg-3 mg each night should be considered by both men and women.
4. Vitamin K in the dose of 10 mg a day facilitates the formation of a bone-building protein and dramatically reduces fracture risk. Do not take vitamin K if you are taking Coumadin or some other type of anticoagulant medication. For treatment, take up to 45 mg a day under the supervision of a physician who monitors blood coagulation factors.
5. Soy extract may improve bone density and bone mineral content, 55-110 mg of active isoflavones (genistein, daidzen, and glycitein) each day.
6. Consider bisphosphonate drug therapy if there is any evidence of a loss of bone mineral density as measured by a QCT test.
7. Application of natural progesterone cream may stabilize or improve bone density. Follow dosage directions in this protocol.
8. Men should pay particular attention to testosterone replacement therapy (refer to the Male Hormone Modulation protocol for details).
9. Ipriflavone may suppress bone resorption, 300 mg a day.
10. Avoid red meat and switch to fish as a protein alternative. Using a supplement called Super GLA/DHA (provides gamma linolenic acid from borage oil and DHA from fish oil) is the best documented way of suppressing excess levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) that break down bone.
11. Readers are referred to the Female Hormone Replacement Therapy protocol for additional information regarding estrogen and progesterone therapy.

https://www.lifeextension.com/protocols/metabolic-health/osteoporosis

Featured Products

Bone Assure

Bone Assure is a comprehensive formula that can help maintain bone mineral density by:

• Sustaining bone mineral mass by providing a potent amount of elemental magnesium and a highly absorbable form of calcium (bisglycinate) that has been shown to assimilate 1.8 times better than calcium citrate.
• Maintaining the organic bone matrix with the minerals zinc, manganese, silica, and copper that are required for the formation of collagen and other living connective tissues. Manganese has been shown to specifically act as an anabolic catalyst in the development and maintenance of the organic bone matrix.
• Facilitating the absorption of calcium into the bloodstream by providing vitamin D3. Once in the bloodstream, vitamin D3 then acts as a hormone to direct calcium into the bone matrix.
• Preventing excessive urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium by providing the trace mineral boron.
• Lowering elevated homocysteine levels that have been shown to damage the organic bone matrix, by providing small amounts of folic acid, B6 and TMG.

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Super K with K2

Arterial calcification is characterized as a buildup of calcium in the arterial walls. It is a process that can begin as early as the second decade of life and continue throughout adulthood. Although calcium is an essential nutrient in maintaining human bone integrity, the trick is to keep it out of the arteries. Studies have revealed that adequate levels of vitamin K may help in keeping calcium in bones and out of arterial walls.

Life Extension’s Super K provides 9 mg of K1 (phylloquinone) along with 1 mg of K2 (menaquinone) in each oil-based softgel. Adding K2 to this product guarantees users the most consistent potency.

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The Methuselah Foundation Prize fund has just received a half million dollars in funding commitments from the XPrize Foundation, an organization that is also sponsoring private space flight. This latest contribution is expected to increase the number of researchers worldwide who are competing to create the longest lived mouse (Mus musculus). The Methuselah Foundation believes that the research will contribute to the development of human longevity therapies.

Methuselah Foundation’s chief science officer Dr. Aubrey de Grey, commented “The focus of the Methuselah Foundation is not simply extending human life; it is discovering ways to limit and eventually eliminate the destructive effects of human aging, promoting not only longer life but freedom from the effects of aging-related conditions and diseases.”

http://www.mprize.org/

If you have questions or comments concerning this issue or past issues of Life Extension Update, send them to ddye@lifeextension.com or call 954 766 8433 extension 7716.

For longer life,

Dayna Dye
Editor, Life Extension Update
ddye@lifeextension.com
LifeExtension.com
1100 West Commercial Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale FL 33309
954 766 8433 extension 7716

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