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Bone loss high for women on epilepsy drugs

Women over age 65 taking drugs for epilepsy lose bone mass at nearly twice the rate of other elderly women, according to a new study.

"If this rate of bone loss is not addressed, the risk of hip fracture for these women will jump by 29 percent over five years," said Dr. Kristine Ensrud, lead author of the study, published today in the journal Neurology. "Older women taking epilepsy drugs should be screened for osteoporosis and counseling about the importance of getting enough calcium and taking vitamin D supplements."

Ensrud, a researcher at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota, and colleagues followed more than 6,000 women at least 65 years old, testing bone density in the heel bones of all of the women, and, later, the hip bones of more than 4,200 of them.

Drugs carry varying risks for osteoporosis, according to the Epilepsy Foundation, which recommends that women who are still menstruating take 1,200-milligram supplements of calcium daily if they're taking antiepilepsy drugs; 1,500 mg a day if postmenopausal.

ORLANDO - Chugging more than one sugar-sweetened soft drink a day appears to significantly increase a woman's chances of developing diabetes, says a Harvard study.

Women in the study who drank at least one sugar-sweetened soda a day were 85 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who drank less.