Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Imponderables

  • When I’m looking around at the Y I usually see lithe, ballerina-like young ladies doing stretching, never strength training; big, paunchy guys are always working shoulders, pecs, and arms, never abs.
  •  According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (part of NIH), large waist size (more than 35” for women, 40” for men) is a predictor of heart disease and type 2 diabetes but the only doctor I’ve ever heard of who measures people’s waists is Dr. Oz. 
  • In a small Japanese study, older women treated with menatetrenone (a form of vitamin K2), vitamin D2, and calcium were 87% less likely to sustain a fracture. The Japanese Ministry of Health has approved menatetrenone for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis since 1995 (source Wikipedia).  This form of vitamin K2 is readily available, inexpensive, and safe but patients in the US are usually given bisphosphonates, which are costly and associated with a slight increase in the risk of atypical femur fracture. In rare cases, usually in cancer patients, these medications have also been implicated in osteonecrosis of the jaw (death of the jaw bone).

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