Osteoporosis Supplement: Rory Hafford examines the findings of a number of studies into the rise of osteoporosis and looks at a new and controversial book on the condition Sir Kingsley Dunham is a former director of the British Geological Survey group and he draws an interesting analogy between the Pennine hills and osteoporosis. He says [...]

Clinical Update: Hip and knee surgery – It is not practical to screen every hip and knee replacement patient post-operatively for the low risk of possible silent venous thrombosis, a leading orthopaedic surgeon has stated. According to Mr Fergal McGoldrick, repeat methodical clinical examination, coupled with a low threshold for screening, is, however, paramount to [...]

Clinical Update: Hip and knee surgery – All going well, patients remain for a week in hospital after hip and knee replacements. However, some are administered warfarin for up to six weeks after they return home from hospital. Patients on warfarin may need to be seen for frequent checks of their international normalised ratio (INR) [...]

Clinical Update: Hip and knee surgery – As we have seen, patients who have undergone hip and knee replacement surgeries are at a significant and clear risk of clotting. While it is agreed that measures must be taken to prevent this, the question remains, how best does one do it? “It is known from orthopaedic [...]

A soccer-specific exercise programme that includes individual instruction of athletes appears to reduce the risk of knee injuries in young female players, according to a new Swedish study. In the study, doctors assessed an intervention programme specifically designed to reduce the risk of soccer-related knee injuries among 1,506 13-to 19-year-old Swedish female players. The programme [...]

Experts believe understanding neuro-pharmacology could promise new approaches to treating nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Gary Finnegan reports from the EFIC Pain in Europe Congress in Lisbon It has been 25 years since the last major revolution in pain management but scientists studying the mechanisms underlying pain have been slowly building a better understanding of signaling [...]

Continuing the Top Tips series, Dr Malachi McKenna offers his top tips for diagnosing and managing osteoporosis Top Tip 1: Diagnosing osteoporosis That 40 per cent of postmenopausal women and a substantial number of elderly men suffer fragility fractures is well publicised, but that does not necessarily ensure that adequate measures are taken to prevent [...]

CLINICAL UPDATE – Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis is a condition of the bone itself, where the bone mass is reduced. The bones become weaker and more prone to fracture. Good evidence supports the treatment of patients with osteoporosis to prevent further bone loss. There have been great developments in this sphere. “If there is an imbalance in [...]

CLINICAL UPDATE – Osteporosis: Osteoporosis – particularly in those who are predisposed to it – accelerates around the time of menopause. In the past there was a lot less that clinicians could do about it. Hormones that become depleted after menopause, are helpful in maintaining bone strength and density. Physiologically, when they are diminished, bone [...]

CLINICAL UPDATE – Osteporosis: New research has revealed a need for GPs to assess their patients’ history more closely when prescribing for post-menopausal osteoporosis, to reduce the risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) side effects that could lead to treatment discontinuation. The research was co-developed by Dr Jonathan Bayly of the University of Derby. The research [...]