Turmeric eases pain, causes diarrhea

Dear Dr. Roach: I was having lots of arthritis pain in my neck and feet last summer. Someone recommended turmeric supplements to help. I started taking 600 mg twice a day. The pain slowly subsided.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I took it for about a month, then I started getting minor stomach cramping and diarrhea, which would come on suddenly and urgently. I stopped taking the supplements, but now the pain is back, especially in my feet.

Is there a form of turmeric that does not cause this side effect?

R.S.J. Answer: Curcumin is the active chemical, which can be extracted from the spice turmeric. You can try taking curcumin itself, which might help. The dose you are taking is fine for either turmeric or curcumin. Unfortunately, some people simply will not tolerate it at any dose.

Dear Dr. Roach: What I want to see is a chart of bone density results for a 70-year-old white woman, to gauge where my results are in comparison. Am I normal for loss, or higher or lower than normal for bone loss? I’ve searched for this, and every time, I’m compared to a 30-year-old! Of course I have lost bone mass; that’s life.

V.W.

Answer: There are three ways that bone density results are reported. One is called the absolute bone density. This number varies depending on the machine, and one machine cannot be compared against another. However, the two other numbers are designed for easy comparison.

The first is called the T-score, and that is the one that compares you against a healthy 30-year-old woman. The definition of osteoporosis can be made by T-score, with a result below -2.5 putting a woman at high risk for fracture.

The second score is the Z-score, and it is less known, but that’s the one that compares you against other people of your age and gender.

If you have a Z-score of zero, that means your bone loss is as predicted for your age. A very negative Z-score suggests a reason other than just age for bone loss, such as vitamin D deficiency.

Readers may email questions to: ToYourGoodHealth@med .cornell.edu or mail questions to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.