Homocysteine Levels Linked with Fracture Risk
 (NY, Reuters Health, 5/13/04)

When Dr. Joyce B. J. van Meurs at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and team, compared homocysteine levels with the incidence of bone fractures in 2406 older adults, the researchers found that subjects with elevated levels of this amino acid had a significantly greater fracture risk than their peers. In an unrelated study, Dr. Robert R. McLean of the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged Research and Training Institute, and team in Boston, analyzed the data for 1999 older adults who participated in the Framingham Study. These scientists also report that hip fractures rise as homocysteine levels increase. Both studies suggest that excessive levels of homocysteine, an amino acid associated with heart disease, increase the risk of fractures.