Osteoporosis: Not Just a Woman's Disease

(American Health Newswire) -- About 9 million women in the U.S. have osteoporosis, which is a loss of calcium in the bones that makes them brittle and susceptible to fracture. Though we think of osteoporosis as a women's disease, sometimes linked to menopause, men can get it, too. Now, there's a new way to figure out if you are in danger of developing it.

From bone density tests at the doctor's office to daily walks to make him stronger, Luciano Blanco has made some big changes ever since he got a surprising diagnosis.

"I thought my bones were perfect, and they were not. It was unbelievable," Blanco, who was diagnosed with osteoporosis, told American Health.

Most of what we see and hear about osteoporosis focuses on women, but men are at risk, too.

3 million men in the U.S. have osteoporosis. Many more go undiagnosed. One-third of all  hip fractures occur in men.

"Once a man fractures a hip, he has double the risk of dying after that hip fracture than a woman does," Silvina Levis, M.D., told American Health.

Male or female, an online tool called the Frax Algorithm can predict your future risk of osteoporosis.

"It absolutely then calculates your 10-year risk for any major osteoporosis fracture and hip fractures," Dr. Baim told American Health.

If your 10-year risk of major fracture is over 20 percent, or over 3 percent for hip fracture, talk to your doctor.

With daily walks, medication, and calcium supplements Blanco's bones are getting stronger.

"So, I hope I can still go on for some time," Blanco said.

A smart 79-year-old, taking steps to protect his bones and his health.

The Frax Osteoporosis Risk Tool was developed by the World Health Organization.  It is most accurate for men and women between 40 and 90 years old, but anyone can take the online test.

Repairing Hearts with Stem Cells

MIAMI, Fla. (American Health Newswire)-- This year, 785,000 people in the U.S will have their first heart attack, and nearly half a million more, who've already had one or more heart attacks, will suffer another one. Heart attacks can do serious damage to the heart and affect everything from its size to its ability to function. Now, researchers believe our own bodies could hold the key to repairing that damage.

63-year-old Robert Boyce was an avid fisherman before he had three heart attacks in just two years, severely damaging his heart.

"My heart was beating 40 some percent less than it should have been," Robert Boyce told American Health.

Robert's getting back into fishing again.  He's already feeling younger. An active man hoping that his own stem cells can give him a new lease on life.

Researchers say it's too soon to know whether fixing a damaged heart with stem cells gives Robert or any patient a longer life or better quality of life. Larger, long-term studies may help answer that question. The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is one of several U.S. centers looking at using stem cells for heart repair.

Medical Advances: Wiping Out Hepatitis C

DETROIT, MI (American Health Newswire) -- About four-million Americans are infected with the hepatitis C virus, and most of them don't know it. Often, patients live for years or decades with few or no symptoms while the virus destroys the liver. A new treatment has just been approved by the FDA that's helping more and more patients rid the body of the virus for good.

Rhonda Gilbert loves to cook for hours, but until just a few months ago, she couldn't stand for more than a few minutes.

"I would walk down the block, and I would get so exhausted, I would have to sit down," Rhonda Gilbert, who has hepatitis C, told American Health

symptoms for people infected with the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C enters the bloodstream and attacks the liver. It can be introduced into the body during intravenous drug use, or before 1990, during a blood transfusion. 

Rhonda Gilbert needed a transfusion in 1972 after a tonsillectomy. Her doctors believe the virus has been attacking her body since then. 

Doctors say until now, the standard treatment for hepatitis C has been a weekly injection of Interferon and a pill taken twice daily called Ribavirin. This treatment works in about half the patients. Doctor Stuart Gordon is an expert in liver disease. He's been tracking the results when a third drug is added to the mix. Boceprevir is a protease inhibitor, meaning it works by blocking the virus's ability to replicate.

"We've looked in liver tissue and blood cells and followed up with these patients years later. The virus is still gone. That's as close to a cure as you're going to get," Stuart Gordon, M.D., a director of hepatology at Henry Ford Health System, said.

Rhonda Gilbert was treated with the three-drug cocktail in 2009. The virus is now gone, and Gilbert's energy is back for the first time in almost 20 years. Doctor Gordon says the drug cocktail using protease inhibitor Boceprevir worked for almost 70 percent of the patients in the trial.