Nightly glass of wine may protect boomer women’s bones (NPR)

A new study of women in their 50s and early 60s finds that moderate consumption of alcohol may prevent bone loss. The human body is constantly in the process of remaking bone by dissolving bits of bone to form new bone. This process increases during menopause, but new bone does not form as fast as the old bone is dissolved, which leads to bone loss. Researchers found that about one drink a day slowed down the rate of bone turnover, which could protect against fractures over time. Experts are quick to point out how often people get carried away with such results, however. “Anything that might interrupt that process of bone-mass accrual would be bad [for young people],” said John Callaci, director of the Molecular and Cellular Bone Biology Laboratory. “So I would definitely not extrapolate these results to younger people or anybody outside the confines of the study.”