Optimizing peak bone mass is critical to healthy aging. Beyond the established roles of dietary minerals and protein on bone integrity, fatty acids and polyphenols modify bone structure. This study investigated the effect of a diet containing hempseeds (HS), which are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and polyphenols, on bone mineral density, bone cell populations and body composition. Groups (n = 8 each) of female C57BL/6 mice were fed one of three diets (15% HS by weight; 5% HS; 0% HS (control)) from age 5 to 30 weeks. In vivo whole-body composition and bone mineral density and content were measured every 4 weeks using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Ex vivo humeri cell populations in the epiphyseal plate region were determined by sectioning the bone longitudinally, mounting the sections on slides and staining with tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase stain to identify osteoclasts and osteoblasts, respectively. Mixed models with repeated measures across experimental weeks showed that neither body weight nor body weight gain across weeks differed among groups yet mice fed the 15% HS diet consumed significantly more food and more kilocalories per g body weight gained than those fed the 5% HS and control diets (p < 0.0001). Across weeks, fat mass was significantly higher in the 5% HS versus the control group (p = 0.02). At the end point, whole-body bone mineral content was significantly higher in the control compared to the 5% HS group (p = 0.02). Humeri from both HS groups displayed significantly lower osteoblast densities compared to the control group (p < 0.0001). No relationship was seen between osteoblast density and body composition measurements. These data invite closer examination of bone cell activity and microarchitecture to determine the effect of habitual HS consumption on bone integrity.

Numerous seed and seed extract diets have been investigated as a means of combating age-related bone loss, with many findings suggesting that the seeds/extracts confer positive effects on bone. Recently, there has been rising interest in the use of dietary hempseed in human and animal diets due to a perceived health benefit from the seed. Despite this, there has been a lack of research investigating the physiologic effects of dietary hempseed on bone. Previous studies have suggested that hempseed may enhance bone strength. However, a complete understanding of the effects of hempseed on bone mineralization, bone micro-architecture, and bone biomechanical properties is lacking. Using a young and developing female C57BL/6 mouse model, we aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge. From five to twenty-nine weeks of age, the mice were raised on either a control (0%), 50 g/kg (5%), or 150 g/kg (15%) hempseed diet (n = 8 per group). It was found that the diet did not influence the bone mineral density or micro-architecture of either the right femur or L5 vertebrae. Furthermore, it did not influence the stiffness, yield load, post-yield displacement, or work-to-fracture of the right femur. Interestingly, it reduced the maximum load of the right femur in the 15% hempseed group compared to the control group. This finding suggests that a hempseed-enriched diet provides no benefit to bone in young, developing C57BL/6 mice and may even reduce bone strength.

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A s first-year medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, we hear about death every day. In between zoom classes on asthma and diabetes, we also learn about racial and e t h n i c d i s p a r i t i e s i n m o r t a l i t y f o r t h e s e s a m e diseases-inequities that have been further amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. While learning about death is an expected part of medical school training, when we hear stories from our preceptors about the difficult conversations they have had with patients and families making urgent end-of-life care decisions, we worry that we are not learning as much about dying. As we train during a pandemic that has disproportionately affected people of color, we also know that Hispanic patients are less likely to complete advance directives that express their end-of-life care wishes, 1 and Black, Native American, and Asian patients are less likely to die in hospice facilities. 2 Just as the HIV epidemic transformed the medical training of many of our preceptors, we hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will similarly change the way we approach death and dying, especially for our most vulnerable patients. Given the disparities we see in how our patients experience illness in life, how can we ensure that the care we provide does not also lead to differences in how our patients die? How should our medical school curriculum prepare us to provide our patients with equitable and culturally humble care not only during the prime of their lives, but also during their final days?While end-of-life care training is integrated as a longitudinal theme across all four years of our Harvard Medical School curriculum, like most other US medical schools, our medical training will not include a required palliative care clerkship. 3 Since the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) only requires a vague, "baseline level" of end-of-life training, it is unsurprising that our third-year colleagues at our medical school reported rarely or never caring for dying patients in their core clerkships, and if