New study reports

Osteoporosis and celiac disease linked

People with osteoporosis, the bone-weakening condition, may also have celiac disease and should be screened for that illness, too, a new study recommends.

A review of 266 people being treated for osteoporosis found that nine of them had celiac disease, an intestinal disorder caused by intolerance to gluten found in wheat, rye and other grains. Just one of 574 people without the bone disease also suffered from celiac disease, the study found.

"Our results suggest that as many as 3 to 4 percent of patients who have osteoporosis have the bone condition as a consequence of having celiac disease," said Dr. William Stenson, a professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who led the study.

The finding appears in the March 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Celiac disease causes an immune reaction to gluten that interferes with the ability of the intestine to absorb nutrients, including the calcium and vitamin D that are essential to the health of bones. A gluten-free diet improved bone density as well as gastrointestinal symptoms for people with celiac disease, the researchers reported.

Finnish research shows

Exercise, diet may cut risk of Alzheimer's

Regular exercise and a healthy diet could go a long way to reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a medical expert said early this month.

A recent Finnish study showed that middle-age people taking regular exercise at least twice a week could reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 50 percent in old age, neurologist Miia Kivipelto said at a conference in Amsterdam.

"An active lifestyle, both physical, mental and social, is preventive. It's never too early to start to prevent Alzheimer's disease," said Kivipelto, an Alzheimer's disease specialist at Stockholm's Gerontology Research Centre.

An estimated 12 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's, which is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly.

People could reduce the risk of developing the disease by going to their doctor for regular check-ups to monitor their blood pressure, cholesterol and weight, she said at a conference on aging organized by Britain's Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Middle-age women

Stress often results in adding weight

Bruising experiences in middle age — the cruel boss, ill parents, divorce — cause women to gain weight, and it's not just because they eat more or exercise less, a large study reports.

"Under stress, people conserve more fat, and we think that may be what's going on here," said psychologist Tene Lewis of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Scientists tracked the physical and mental health of pre-menopausal women from their 40s through menopause. Researchers asked more than 2,000 women about unhappy life events in the past year, about their diet, exercise, smoking and menstrual periods.

Even after taking into account many factors that could influence weight, four years later the women who faced lots of stress weighed significantly more than the less stressed.

Seattle Times news services