Strontium

STRONTIUM is a metallic element widely distributed, although in minute amounts, and found in various compounds, seawater, marine plants, and food. It is also found in bones and teeth, but it is not known if it is essential for them, and, as it stands, strontium has no nutritive value. It is the radioactive form that is the health concern.

There are several radioisotopes, with strontium-90 being the most familiar. Strontium-90 was used in atomic bombs. The nuclear fallout later claimed many victims to leukemia -- as it does today with each nuclear accident. With a half-life of twenty-eight years, strontium-90 is easily passed on in the food chain -- animals eat the grass, and people eat the products from these animals. strontium 90 is absorbed into the bones where WBC's (white blood cells) are made and interfere with their production, which greatly increases the risk of bone cancers, including leukemia.

Names include: Sr, Sr+2, Sr++, element 38.

UPDATE: July, 2005

Strontium has recently been re-discovered as being an essential substance in helping to prevent osteoporosis and the only one that has the ability to regenerate, preserve, and even restore bone growth.

First discovered in 1790 by a Scots-Irish chemist, Adair Crawford, strontium was found to be a distinct mineral species in with the barium crystals common in the area of the Scottish town of Strontian. Since then, the mineral has remained in relative obscurity, except for a few patent medicines that had nothing to do with bone health and, of course, the infamous strontium-90 radioactive form.

Things began to change in the 1940s, however, when research began to show that strontium was vital to a healthy skeletal system. More significantly, a French researcher went so far as to report that a lack of strontium in the diet caused defective mineralization of the bones and teeth in his lab animals, suggesting that mammals need the mineral for normal skeletal development and suffer from a deficiency if they do not obtain it in their food – just as they would if their diets lack calcium, magnesium, or zinc.

The hint that made scientists take strontium more seriously was the fact that 99% of the mineral is concentrated in the skeletal system. Scientists then began adding it to the animal’s diet and found that the bony “dentin” tissue in their teeth increased. They also noted that healthy teeth contained more strontium than those with cavities. In addition, people living in areas where Sstrontium was higher in the drinking water had fewer incidents of dental caries – a finding that was subsequently reinforced by eight more studies over the next few decades.

Bone Refresher
Bone is a living tissue – just like any other in the body. It grows and it wears down. Although it seems unchanging after full growth is attained, in reality, bone is in a continual process of remodeling and renewal. Old bone is torn down by cells called osteoclasts and is resorbed by another special class of bone cells called osteoblasts, which then builds up replacement tissue. This constant balance of resorption and new bone formation allows for continual replacement of old, stressed, and/or damaged tissue with new and healthy bone. It also allows the body to adjust its skeletal structure when it is subjected to new or changing stresses.

As we age, the body naturally wears down. This is especially true of the skeletal system. Arthritis and osteoporosis become more common with age. It is especially apparent in menopausal women when the hormone estrogen suppresses the resorption process, causing a dramatic increase in bone loss. However, this process does not just suddenly appear in women at menopause. It actually begins in both men and women in their 20s! However, this gradual process usually goes unnoticed until something dramatic like menopause or the worsening of arthritis grabs the attention.

How Strontium Helps Bone
Strontium causes baby osteoblasts to multiply more quickly. There is also a notable increase in the synthesis of DNA in these cells. With all the new osteoblasts on hand, bone tissue cultures exposed to strontium synthesize more bone matrix (the mineral-enriched collagen that forms the foundation of bone tissue). Strontium also appears to draw extra calcium into bones.

Until recently, it has been thought that, because of its chemical similarity to calcium, strontium could replace it somewhat in various body processes, including replacing a small proportion of the calcium in such calcified tissues as bones and teeth. However, this theory is now being ruled out since the amount of calcium appears to have no effect on these parameters or from ranelic acid, the inert acid salt to which strontium has been bound in many of the more recent clinical trials.

Instead, scientists are seeing that there is a receptor in osteoblasts which responds specifically to stronium and is unaffected by calcium, aluminum, or any other metallic element. This would be consistant with the understanding that while calcium is necessary for building new bone, it does not stimulate that growth – although an abundance of calcium does help to suppress bone teardown.

Strontium also appears to prevent the resorption caused by excessive parathyroid hormone and, unlike the bisphosphate drugs, does not kill existing osteoclasts. Instead, it slows the rate at which immature osteoclasts develop. (Remember, Osteoblasts continually build new bone tissue while Osteoclasts continually tear down old bone cells). This creates the best of both worlds required for total bone health – increasing mineral denisity and bone strength without increasing brittleness or having any negative impact on bone qualtity whatsoever.

Bone-loss Drugs
The following list includes all the existing approved drugs on the market today that are designed to slow down the effects of bone loss:

All are anti-resorptive agents. This means that they are substances that work by slowing down runaway bone resorption. Calcium and vitamin D supplements also have anti-resorptive action that keeps the body’s stores of these nutrients at levels high enough so that calcium will not leech out of the bones by the parathyroid hormone. These, however, DO NOT increase the body’s ability to build new bone. They just keep old bone from being destroyed.

Despite what a bone mineral density (BMD) test may show, bone mass continues to fall even while a person is on such drugs as Fosamax or any other antiresorptive drug. All that an increase in the readings of the DEXA machines indicates is that there is an increase in the mineralization of the bone tissue left, but does not show the continual decline in the amount of bone tissue – leaving everyone with a false sense of security.

More importantly, conventional osteoporosis treatments are one-sided and half-way measures. Although these drugs are effective in treating one part of the bone-loss problem (excessive bone resorption), they fail to address the cause; that is, a decline in bone formation. A good analogy may be this:

To address the disease process of osteoporosis fully, an agent is needed that will not only prevent bone resorption but will also boost the body’s declining ability to create new bone tissue. Pharmaceutical companies are working to develop new drugs that could correct the weaking of the body’s bone-building capacity. One such agent called Forteo is expected to be on the North American market by 2006. This is a “snipped-down” version of the human parathyroid hormone, PTH, which has been “biotechnology-modified” to include only the biologically active “business end”. In the UK, a product called Protelos, is already being sold as one that will strengthen bones and reduce the risk of fractures. However, drugs are never the answer. Nutrients are.

Strontium Research
Although numerous European studies had sporatically occurred over the years, it was a study in 1985 by McGill University’s Dr. Stanley Skoryna that forced the scientific community to sit up and really take notice of Strontium’s effect on the skeletal system. Dr. Skoryna and his team found that daily doses of 600-700 mg of Strontium carbonate for six months increased the rate of bone formation in osteoporosis patients by an astounding 172.4%. Subsequent studies have confirmed these findings – Strontium supplements do increase bone mass and, the more that is taken, the greater the bone mass that is gained.

Even more striking were the results in women’s hip bones. Despite the calcium and vitamin D3 supplements that these women had been taking, those who did not take Strontium as well, actually suffered a bone density loss in their hips of 0.57% each year of the study! By contrast, those who had added Strontium to their regimé gained bone mass in their hips. In addition, those taking strontium suffered 56% fewer new vertebral deformities compared with those taking only calcium and vitamin D3.

Beyond Osteoporosis
Although most of the recent studies have been focusing on osteoporosis patients, this mineral has also been found to benefit bone structure and function in those who have the following conditions:

Strontium and Diet
It is now known that, almost always, strontium and calcium are found together in natural plant foods. This makes sense since plants, animals, and humans absorb and store these two minerals in similar fashion. Data compiled from ancient bones have revealed that carnivores had lower bone strontium/calcium ratios than herbivores. This also makes sense since it is now known that the more protein that is consumed, the more calcium that is leeched from the body. Therefore, when scientists reveal that calcium-rich foods support bone health, they may unwittingly be revealing the need for obtaining both minerals in the diet.

Taking Strontium and Calcium Supplements
If taken properly, both minerals play a key role in bone health. However, some studies suggest that strontium may not be effective and indeed may be counterproductive, IF the calcium intake is not adequate.

It is also important to take strontium at a different time than the calcium supplement. This is because calcium and strontium use the same pathways for absorption in the intestinal tract. By taking them together, absorption will be dramatically reduced. Therefore, beware of supplements that include both of them!!

The best time to take calcium is at night to help prevent excessive resorption of bone during the night. Strontium is best taken an hour before breakfast.

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