Trace elements and bone health.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to review the effect of boron and other trace elements on bone health and evaluate their clinical importance.
Results Summary
The study suggests that boron, along with other trace elements, positively influences bone health, and deficiency of these elements can slow bone mass increase in childhood/adolescence and accelerate bone loss in menopause/old age. Monitoring homeostasis of trace elements is recommended to identify and treat at-risk patients.
Population
General population, with specific mentions of childhood, adolescence, menopause, and old age.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
calcium | neutral | integrity of the skeleton | - | - | is important for | #1 |
vitamin D | neutral | integrity of the skeleton | - | - | is important for | #2 |
vitamin K | neutral | integrity of the skeleton | - | - | is important for | #3 |
zinc | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #4 |
copper | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #5 |
fluorine | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #6 |
manganese | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #7 |
magnesium | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #8 |
iron | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #9 |
boron | increase | bone health | - | - | positively influences | #10 |
deficiency of these elements | decrease | increase of bone mass | childhood and/or in adolescence | - | slows down | #11 |
deficiency of these elements | increase | bone loss | after menopause or in old age | - | accelerates | #12 |
deterioration of bone quality | increase | risk of fractures | - | - | increases | #13 |
The importance of nutrition factors such as calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K for the integrity of the skeleton is well known. Moreover, bone health is positively influenced by certain elements (e.g., zinc, copper, fluorine, manganese, magnesium, iron and boron). Deficiency of these elements slows down the increase of bone mass in childhood and/or in adolescence and accelerates bone loss after menopause or in old age. Deterioration of bone quality increases the risk of fractures. Monitoring of homeostasis of the trace elements together with the measurement of bone density and biochemical markers of bone metabolism should be used to identify and treat patients at risk of non-traumatic fractures. Factors determining the effectivity of supplementation include dose, duration of treatment, serum concentrations, as well as interactions among individual elements. Here, we review the effect of the most important trace elements on the skeleton and evaluate their clinical importance.