BMJ 1994;308:930-931 (9 April)

Editorials

Milk and bones

"You are what you eat" has been an popular aphorism in the many branches of medicine in which nutritional aberrations are suspected to have a role in disease. In the pathophysiology of osteoporosis the nutritional questions have always centred on calcium. The importance of osteoporosis is clear, with the current epidemic of hip fractures increasing as populations worldwide gradually age: the global load of hip fracture is expected to treble to over six million cases a year by 2050.1

In this week's journal Sean Murphy and colleagues confirm the benefit of a high calcium intake (as milk) on bone mineral density (p 939).2 In a community based survey of older women (aged 44-74) they found their milk consumption before the age of 25 correlated positively with current bone mineral density. This relation persisted after numerous potential confounding factors were controlled for statistically. A similar, but weaker, association was found between . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Seppa, K, Avenell, A, Purdie, D W, Thomas, R E, Torgerson, D J, Reid, D M (1994). Bone density and milk Consider fat as well as calcium intake Consider fat as well as calcium intake. BMJ 308: 1566-1566 [Full text]  
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