There is a new and somewhat odd finding recently published from research looking to establish whether there’s a relationship between blood phosphorus levels and pelvic bone density in the general population, not XLH patients. They concluded, “These findings suggest that elevated serum phosphorus significantly increases the risk of fracture. … This negative correlation suggests that individuals with lower serum phosphorus levels may have higher pelvic BMD [bone mineral density].” From “Association between serum phosphorus levels and pelvic bone mineral density.”
Again, note that this is NOT research into XLH patients, and if you look at the charts, they’re mostly talking about elevated blood phosphorus levels that we never get to. It’s not generally anything we need to worry about, but it is a bit counter-intuitive (at least for me as a lay person), and it’s a good reminder that the goal of treatment for us is NOT to get the blood phos levels as high as possible, since extra-high levels may be harmful, but just to get the levels to stay consistently in the normal range.
Note too that the patient age range that was studied is 18 to 59, when osteoporosis generally starts at age fifty, and worsens over time. It would be interesting to know if the findings change with age, especially for women in the 60 to 80-something range, and in that demographic, higher phosphorus levels do in fact improve bone mineral density.
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Please note that the author is a well-read patient, not a doctor, and is not offering medical or legal advice.
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