Caution for Children on warfarin

[Guest]

The journal Pediatric Research will be publishing a study by C. Barnes et al showing that 17 children who have been on warfarin for about 8 years had lower spinal bone mineral density that comparable children who were not on warfarin.

I wish I could tell you exactly what this means but I do not know. Apparently they are at increased risk for fracture.

I also wish I could tell you what the treatment is. The obvious answer would be calcium. However, that has not been proven because vitamin K also has a role in bone formation. Since warfarin inhibits the function of vitamin K there may not be an effective treatment.

The authors recommend screening of children but if there is no treatment, I'm not sure what good this will do without a proven treatment.

So why did I start this thread. I guess because it is something to keep in the back of a parent's mind. Calcium might not help but it probably won't hurt. They may need to do some studies with Fosamax.

Does this apply to adults. The answer is that we do not know.

As they say on the commercials, "emerging science may be ..."

Keep it in mind but do not be worried about it.

 

[geebee]

Al,
This is a very interesting thread. It was determined that I have suffered lower back bone loss from density tests about 8 years ago (at age 44). The doctors thought it was happening at a very early age but could not really explain the reason.
I took Fosamax for awhile but had esophageal (sp?) problems and had to stop. Now I just try to excercise, take calcium and hope for the best.
I wonder if there is a connection with warfarin. Time will tell, I guess.

 

[Emma]

thankyou

thankyou

Hi Al,
Thanks for posting that.
I had already heard about the link between warfarin and calcium and low bone density. I read a few things a while back about some older people who had been on warfarin for quite some years developing osteo-something or other(??). I didn't know vitamin K had anything to do with bone density but having known about this link for some time, I have always been sure that Chloe has quite a high calcium intake - luckily for me, she loves milk and yogurts so it's not hard at all.]
Thanks again
Emma
xxx

 

[Nancy]

Joe now takes calcium. His calcium levels were low. So I guess it's a very good thing that he's on it.

 

[Guest]

I'm glad that some people found this useful. You can see from the original post that as I was typing it, I started thinking about if I was just causing worry with no solution and no definitive answer.

 

[KeegansMom02]

Wow!

Wow!

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting info. Hopefully someone will continue research on this finding and have the ability to tell us what all this means?!?!

 

[djacq]

Interesting.

After more than a year on Fosomax, my bone density tests worsened. I was at a loss to figure out why. I also took calcium supplements. It all didn't warrant my bone mass lessening.

I am now thinking that the article has a clue that the lack of Vit K is playing a role in bone loss?

Thank you for keeping us on the cutting edge of warfarin treatment.

Donna

 

[Guest]

It does kinda look that way doesn't it.