Type 2 Diabetes - Vitamin D and Bone Fractures
People who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes tend to have more bone fractures than do non-diabetics.
The National Institute of Health in the United States suggests the high fracture risk could be due to poor eyesight and falls, or to weak bones from the sedentary lifestyle seen in many Type 2 diabetics.
According to a study reported on in October 2012 in the Endocrinology Journal, low levels of vitamin D, often seen in Type 2 diabetics, could be responsible for at least part of the problem.
This particular study, completed at the Kwandong University College of Medicine and Myongji Hospital in Korea, included 161 women and 180 men with Type 2 diabetes.
Among men with blood vitamin D levels of over 30 ng/ml, 9.
4 per cent had fractures of their vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine.
4 per cent of those with 30 ng/ml of vitamin D had vertebral fractures, compared to:
Sunlight is the main source of vitamin D.
Vegan diets, known to be good for preventing and controlling Type 2 diabetes, can also be low in vitamin D, so spending a few minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen is important.
This is especially important for people with dark skin, as the ultraviolet rays of the sun cannot penetrate well.
Vitamin D supplements, often combined with calcium, are available, as well as foods supplemented with the vitamin.
Another way of avoiding vertebral fractures is to put some weight onto the vertebral bodies, the parts of the vertebrae supporting your head, upper limbs, and trunk.
Astronauts floating in space were found to lose calcium from their bones because their bones did not have to carry weight without gravity.
Walking or lifting weights over your head give the vertebral bodies a workout.
When bones are made to carry a load they will grow stronger.
Cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts are responsible for the remodeling of bones.
The National Institute of Health in the United States suggests the high fracture risk could be due to poor eyesight and falls, or to weak bones from the sedentary lifestyle seen in many Type 2 diabetics.
According to a study reported on in October 2012 in the Endocrinology Journal, low levels of vitamin D, often seen in Type 2 diabetics, could be responsible for at least part of the problem.
This particular study, completed at the Kwandong University College of Medicine and Myongji Hospital in Korea, included 161 women and 180 men with Type 2 diabetes.
Among men with blood vitamin D levels of over 30 ng/ml, 9.
4 per cent had fractures of their vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine.
- about 19 per cent of men with blood vitamin D levels of 20-29.
9 ng/ml had fractured vertebrae. - among men with vitamin D levels below 20 ng/ml, 27.
8 per cent were found to have vertebral fractures.
4 per cent of those with 30 ng/ml of vitamin D had vertebral fractures, compared to:
- 19.
2 per cent of those with vitamin D levels of 20-29.
9 ng/ml, and - 26.
6 per cent for those women with vitamin D levels below 20 ng/ml.
15
Sunlight is the main source of vitamin D.
Vegan diets, known to be good for preventing and controlling Type 2 diabetes, can also be low in vitamin D, so spending a few minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen is important.
This is especially important for people with dark skin, as the ultraviolet rays of the sun cannot penetrate well.
Vitamin D supplements, often combined with calcium, are available, as well as foods supplemented with the vitamin.
Another way of avoiding vertebral fractures is to put some weight onto the vertebral bodies, the parts of the vertebrae supporting your head, upper limbs, and trunk.
Astronauts floating in space were found to lose calcium from their bones because their bones did not have to carry weight without gravity.
Walking or lifting weights over your head give the vertebral bodies a workout.
When bones are made to carry a load they will grow stronger.
Cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts are responsible for the remodeling of bones.
- osteoclasts break down bone when it is not needed so that its calcium can be used elsewhere in the body.
- osteoblasts build up bone when it is stressed by having to carry weight.