The current, fourth-quarter issue of the Journal of Nursing Scholarship features a story about a pilot study, which resulted in a $2.9 million grant to the UNMC College of Nursing to evaluate a new approach to prevent osteoporosis in breast cancer survivors after menopause.
The five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, may provide an alternative treatment for breast cancer survivors, most of whom cannot take hormone replacement therapy, the most frequently used preventive treatment.
The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, the official journal of Sigma Theta Tau International, a nursing honor society, is published quarterly and contains peer-reviewed articles representing research by some of the world’s leading nurse researchers.
About 273 women, ages 35 to 70, in a 100-mile radius of Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney and Scottsbluff, are being recruited for the study.
“I was pleased to learn the journal would publish our study. It is a highly respected nursing journal,” said Nancy Waltman, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing, UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division, and principal investigator of the study. “The editors felt it was important to publish the study because there is increasing realization that osteoporosis is a major health problem in older women. Medications and exercises may be effective in preventing complications of osteoporosis such as fractures.”
Researchers in the Omaha, Lincoln-Division, Kearney-Division and West Nebraska Division in Scottsbluff are studying whether a progressive strength and weight training exercise program can boost the effectiveness of risedronate, calcium and vitamin D in improving bone mineral density in post menopausal breast cancer survivors. Researchers were encouraged with results from a one-year pilot study.
“We want to know just how important exercise is,” Dr. Waltman said. “We know the medication and supplements work, but it’s not enough.” The new study will evaluate how important exercise is in minimizing bone loss or reestablishing bone strength, she said.
Researchers also expect to find breast cancers survivors in the new, larger study who aren’t aware they have bone loss. In the pilot study, Dr. Waltman said 80 percent of the women had bone loss, but many were unaware of the fact because they had never been tested.
In 2002, about 205,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Osteoporosis is a significant problem in women after menopause, especially breast cancer survivors. More than 50 to 70 percent of women under the age of 50 who are treated with chemotherapy experience ovarian failure and early menopause, resulting in a long period of estrogen deprivation.
Osteoporosis causes deterioration of bone tissue and leads to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures of the hip, spine and wrist. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, osteoporosis is a major public health threat for more than 28 million Americans.
Caucasian and Asian women are at increased risk for osteoporosis. The annual cost of osteoporosis is estimated at $13.8 billion — more than the annual cost of both congestive heart failure and asthma.
Other co-investigators participating in the study are: Carol Ott, Ph.D., UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division; Gloria Gross, Ph.D., UNMC College of Nursing West Nebraska Division; Jan Twiss, Ph.D., Timothy Moore, M.D., UNMC College of Medicine, Omaha; and Kris Berg, Ed.D, of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
For more information, in Omaha, call 559-6571; Lincoln, (402) 472-7344; Kearney, (308) 865-8147 and Scottsbluff, (308) 632-0412.