Home Dee Dee Health Tip – Dec. 20 – Vitamin C May Fight Osteoporosis

Health Tip – Dec. 20 – Vitamin C May Fight Osteoporosis

735

New research from New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that high doses of vitamin C can help build bones, preventing osteoporosis, at least in female mice.

The investigators compared two groups of mice. One group had their ovaries removed, a procedure that leads to reduced bone density in both humans and mice. Another group of mice had “sham” surgery that replicated the operating room procedure but left their ovaries intact.

The researchers then divided the mice without ovaries into two sub-groups. One sub-group received large doses of vitamin C over eight weeks and the other sub-group received only the standard mouse diet. The investigators then measured the bone mineral density in the lumbar spine, femur and tibia bones in all the mice.

They found that the mice that didn’t get any supplemental vitamin C had much lower bone density than the ones that served as controls – those that did not have their ovaries removed. The mice that had their ovaries removed and received  vitamin C had the same bone density as the mice that still had their ovaries.

Next: research to see if vitamin C supplements can achieve the same results in humans.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here