[The physiological role of vitamin K in blood clotting and bone metabolism is well known. A number of articles have been published recently about the effects of vitamin K2 on bone. Non-professional media promotes vitamin K2 as a potent tool for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Nevertheless vitamin K2 is not included in either Hungarian, or European, or Ameri - can guidelines as an anti-osteoporotic me - dication. Our aim was to review the literature and provide a systematic review on the role of vitamin K2 in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. We have searched articles on http://pubmed. org available on 14. February 2014. Our search terms were: („ vitamin K2” OR „ menaquinon” OR „ MK-7” OR „ menantrenon”) AND „ osteoporosis”. We have only reviewed original articles that discussed the relationship of vitamin K2 and osteoporosis, and had at least the abstract available in English. Of the 155 articles found, 135 had a relevant topic, 126 had at least the abstract in English. Of these, 73 were original articles, including 44 human studies (8 doubleblind, controlled, 26 open-label, controlled, 5 observational and 5 cross-sectional studies) and 29 animal or in vitro models. In the non-Asian population there is no evidence for fracture-preventing or BMD-increasing effect of vitamin K2 treatment. The currently recommended anti-osteoporotic medications are significantly more efficient compared with the BMD increase observed in some Asian studies.]

[This risk of osteoporosis-related fractures is influenced by a number of well-known risk factors. Among the approaches to quantify bone fracture risk, the FRAX questionnaire is the most widespread in everyday practice. However, this method only provides a probability percentage for the physician, and it is unable to specify or weigh the factors that may have a particular importance in evaluating individual fracture risk, or choosing the appropriate therapy in patients with previous osteoporotic fracture. This summary aims to provide practical help for the evaluation of individual fracture risk in patients who have had bone fractures.]

[INTRODUCTION - Metastatic bone disease is frequently associated with breast and prostate cancer. Bisphosphonate treatment of bone metastases is palliative: its primary goal is to relieve pain, while it's also important to decrease the risk of bone fractures, prolong survival and maintain physical activity of the patients. Pain is the most common symptom of bone metastases. PATIENTS AND METHODS - In total 845 patients were enrolled in our open, multicenter, prospective, observational study, the first of its kind in Hungary. The agent tested was zoledronic acid (Zometa®). Duration of the study was 20 months and its primary goal was to assess the correlation between pain and quality of life during the treatment of patients with bone metastases from breast or prostate carcinoma. RESULTS - During the 18 months of the study, the average intensity of pain, measured on the visual analog scale showed a 42% reduction (p<0.0001). By the end of the 18. month, the ratio of patients free of symptoms has increased by 15% and the number of patients with substantial complaints has decreased by 73%. CONCLUSION - Our study supports the observation published in the international literature that in patients with bone metastases from breast and prostate cancer, zoledronic acid treatment is beneficial for reducing pain and thus for improving quality of life.]

[INTRODUCTION - Smoking is associated with a decreased bone mass and increased risk of osteoporotic fractures.The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of current tobacco smoking to bone mineral density (BMD) in Hungarian females. PATIENTS AND METHODS - We measured BMD in 43 (25-72 yrs) smoker and 43 age- and BMI-matched non-smoker women by dual X-ray absorptiometry (Prodigy, GE Lunar) at the lumbar spine and proximal femur and by single photon absorptiometry at the radius midshaft of the non-dominant side (NK 364, Gamma). RESULTS - Osteoporosis (T-score at any measured site below - 2.5) was found to be more common among smokers compared to non smokers (63.6% vs 36.4%, χ2-test p=0.009). Among premenopausal women no difference was found in BMD between the two groups, whereas postmenopausal smoker women tended to have a lower BMD value compared to those who didn’t smoke. In postmenopausal women a decrease of borderline significance was found in lumbar BMD (0.977 vs 1.04; p=0.06). CONCLUSION - Our observation suggests that there is only a slight decrease in bone mass due to smoking, however, added to menopausal bone loss this effect can be a significant contributor to the increased fracture risk of involutional age.]

[Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that is increasingly applied for the treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures. The authors discuss its indications, patient selection criteria, the issue of diagnostic imaging, the technique of the procedure, its potential complications, review the literature on post-procedure pain relief, and briefly present their own experience in the treatment of osteoporotic fractures. Vertebroplasty is indicated for patients with severe, persistent, often incapacitating focal back pain not responding to standard medical therapy, which is related to the collapse of one or more vertebral bodies. Patients selected carefully by the clinical symptoms and the imaging studies usually respond promptly to the treatment, experience significant pain relief, improvement of the quality of life, and an increase in mobility.Vertebroplasty is a safe procedure with relatively low complication rates.The potential neurological complications, however, necessitate an instantly available neurosurgical background.]