Since PwP are at increased risk for Osteoporosis and Osteopenia, I am writing this post to illustrate how once again, Melatonin may be quite useful for the purpose of staving off or preventing Osteoporosis or Osteopenia. The following Meta Analysis discusses the relationship of Osteoporosis and PD. Here is a quote from this Meta Analysis :
>>> ' The results show that PD patients have significantly increased risk of osteoporosis and osteopenia, and that female patients are more severely affected than male patients. ' <<<
jnnp.bmj.com/content/85/10/...
What Is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when the body loses too much bone, makes too little bone, or both. As a result, bones become weak and may break from a fall or, in serious cases, from sneezing or minor bumps.
nof.org/patients/what-is-os...
What Are The Risk Factors And Who Is At Risk?
Women are at higher risk than men and here are some of the risk factors.
Often times, a fracture, or a broken bone is the first sign of osteoporosis before any of the following risk factors are present:
Estrogen deficiency from early menopause (before age 45, either natural or surgical) or no period for a long time (six months to a year)
Personal history of fracture (broken bone) as an adult
Family history of osteoporosis or bone fracture
Small thin frame and/or low body weight
Low intake of calcium (avoidance of dairy products)
Low levels of vitamin D
Immobilization or lack of exercise
Cigarette smoking
Excessive alcohol intake
High caffeine intake
Other medical problems that contribute to bone loss, including thyroid and parathyroid conditions, digestive problems, eating disorders, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, cancer and paralysis
Use of certain medications that weaken bones, such as steroids, overuse of thyroid hormone, blood thinners, anticonvulsants and diuretics. While osteoporosis can occur in anyone, it is more common in Caucasian and Asian women.
How Is Osteoporosis Treated By Doctors?
Doctors have multiple drugs at their disposal to treat Osteoporosis. Drugs such as the following Bisphosphonates:
Alendronate (Fosamax), a weekly pill
Risedronate (Actonel), a weekly or monthly pill
Ibandronate (Boniva), a monthly pill or quarterly intravenous (IV) infusion
Zoledronic acid (Reclast), an annual IV infusion
There is also:
Denosumab : Prolia / Xgeva
Romosozumab : One of the newest drugs for Osteoporosis
Abaloparatide
Teriparatide
mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...
There are others, but these would be considered to be the main group. The Bisphosphonates have some significant side effect issues as mentioned here :
nof.org/patients/treatment/...
Previously we have discussed the use of melatonin for Stroke prevention and treatment, Covid-19, Parkinson's Disease, the group of diseases that falls into the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) group and Memory. As the title suggests, Melatonin has shown benefit in fighting Osteoporosis and is worth considering as part of a plan to fight Osteoporosis. I won't rehash all of the benefits of melatonin that I have already mentioned in this Melatonin Series as they are many, but rather concentrate on showing studies that illustrate how Melatonin can be helpful for people with Osteoporosis and for prevention.
In the following abstract, melatonin is shown to operate like most of the available prescription meds by inhibiting bone loss, but melatonin goes a step further and also helps in new bone formation.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/305...
In the following mouse model of osteoporosis that is generated by giving the mice retinoic acid, Melatonin was shown to prevent bone destruction while promoting bone formation. Here is an interesting quote from the study :
>>> ' Melatonin can alleviate bone loss in RA-induced OP model mice, repair the trabecular microstructure, and promote bone formation. ' <<<
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
In this next abstract, the title pretty much says it all, "Melatonin Suppresses Estrogen Deficiency-Induced Osteoporosis and Promotes Osteoblastogenesis by Inactivating the NLRP3 Inflammasome". This also happens to be one way that Melatonin fights Covid-19.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/298...
In the following abstract the ability of Melatonin to restore impaired osteogenic potential caused by Osteoporosis is discussed. Here is a quote from the abstract :
>>> ' These results indicated that melatonin ameliorates estrogen deficiency-induced osteoporosis and impaired osteogenic differentiation potential by suppressing activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome via mediating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. ' <<<
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/316...
Since diabetes is considered a potential risk factor for Osteoporosis, the following study discusses how melatonin may be helpful in helping to stave off Osteoporosis. The following study goes into detail. Here is a quote from the study :
>>> ' Importantly, melatonin significantly reduced ferroptosis and improved the osteogenic capacity of osteoblasts via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway both in vivo and in vitro. ' <<<
Ferroptosis is important in PD also and reduction of ferroptosis in PD is useful for PwP.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
The following study discusses how Melatonin may be useful for preventing bone loss during space flight.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
The following study comes to this final conclusion regarding Melatonin and Osteoporosis :
>>> ' The osteoblast-inducing, bone-enhancing effects of melatonin and improvement in quality of life suggest that melatonin is a safe and effective bone loss therapy. '<<<
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
It is worth reminding here that melatonin production declines with age as noted on the graph at the top of this post and this is very important when you start to consider all of the health conditions that studies show that melatonin is useful for. This adds credence to the whole idea of supplementing with melatonin as a preventative or treatment as we age. Osteoporosis, like PD, is considered an age related disease and melatonin, again as illustrated by the chart at the top of the page, declines very significantly with age.
Please refer to the chart at the top of this post.
This next abstract discusses how melatonin can be useful in helping to reduce the risk of Osteoporosis in people with Multiple Sclerosis.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/291...
The following RCT is very interesting in that it shows how melatonin works well with other natural supplements that are often used for Osteoporosis and Osteopenia such as vitamin D, vitamin K-2 and strontium. Here is a quote from the study :
>>> ' These findings provide both clinical and mechanistic support for the use of MSDK for the prevention or treatment of osteopenia, osteoporosis or other bone-related diseases. ' <<<
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
The following rat study is interesting because it demonstrates how Melatonin has synergy with Calcium Carbonate in helping to reduce and possibly reverse osteoporosis in these rats. Here is a quote from the study :
>>> ' Melatonin and calcium carbonate can significantly improve antioxidative ability in rats with osteoporosis, increase bone density, elevate serum calcium level and reduce bone mineral loss, thus preventing and treating osteoporosis, and the combination displays more remarkable effects. ' <<<
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
This next abstract is important because it points out that Melatonin can also have oral health benefits, as pointed out in a previous post on oral health, all why working against Osteoporosis and Osteopenia.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/243...
Conclusion
I could go on for pages highlighting the many Melatonin studies showing benefit for Osteoporosis and Osteopenia, but the above should be more than enough to show how useful Melatonin is for the purpose. The above studies go into substantial detail explaining how useful Melatonin is for the purpose as well as how it is synergistic with other known supplements that are often used to fight Osteoporosis. When you combine this information with the previous articles in this Melatonin Series, you might start to get an inkling of why I choose to take high dose melatonin (HDM) everyday at 106 mg+ per night so that I can try and avail myself of all of the health benefits that melatonin appears to offer.
As always I can not recommend Melatonin or dosing because I am not a doctor, but I can highlight these relevant studies so that others can clearly see the benefit of HDM. You should consult your doctor or healthcare professional before testing or taking melatonin for any reason, to be safe.
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