Constantly, our bones go through the bone remodeling cycle to keep them strong but, as we grow old, they lose mass and to some people, it may lead to osteoporosis. People who are developing or at risk of developing osteoporosis are usually treated with bisphosphonates, which unfortunately have been in a bad light lately.
Differing opinions held by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory members led to the recommendation of stronger warnings for such drugs including Fosamax.
Maybe the best thing to do to avoid this situation is to prevent the development of the disease. Learning more about how vitamin D functions to maintain the health of our bones definitely matters. Our skeletal system serves as scaffold that protects organs and it also anchors muscles for motion, hence maintaining bone health is essential to our lives.
The hauling of calcium inside the body is basically influenced by vitamin D. Calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, helps in the absorption of calcium in the intestine. Also, it increases the release of calcium into the blood from bone while decreasing the excretion of calcium to the urine by the kidney.
In the bone remodeling aspect, vitamin D acts on osteoblasts, bone cells responsible for bone formation, to release a specific type of molecule which activates osteoclasts, bone cells responsible for bone digestion. This action ensures the maintenance of bone mineralization within normal range.
One unique quality of vitamin D is that your body can actually manufacture this nutrient with the aid of the ray of sunlight. According to vitamin D researchers, a 5 to 30 minute exposure to sunlight, between 10 AM to 3 PM, at least twice a week is sufficient enough to meet your vitamin D needs. Moreover, the recommended daily vitamin D intake of a person can also be met by eating the flesh of a fatty fishes like salmon.
While the information about the benefits of vitamin D is somewhat a good news to us, bad news continue to pile up for Merck, a pharmaceutical company. According to some patients, the company seemingly missed out in appropriately informing its patients, as well as the doctors, the possible hazards involved with the use of bisphosphonate Fosamax. A number of harmed individuals are now determined to contend for a Fosamax lawsuit against the company.
