Edwin Varley: Your article on Osteoporosis in the recent newsletter (#140) was informative and appreciated, but it really grabbed my attention to the extent I downloaded the entire article by Andrew Hamilton for further study. My personal indoor rowing history of more than 20 years suggests there is more to the story that affects (or afflicts) those devoted, intense, lightweight, indoor rowers. In my opinion we are dealing with an elephant in the living room un-noticed.My indoor rowing commenced about 1984, or early 1985. I've logged over 2.7 million metres on the Model A, over 6.7 million metres on the Model B, and the rest of over 25 million metres on Model C (except for the two most recent World IRCs on Model Ds). I am six feet zero inches tall and presently weigh 164 lbs. The only time I have had a body fat check was in 1998, a three-site skinfold protocol, finding I had 18.7 lbs of body fat out of 167 lbs bodyweight.What am I getting at? The medical community seems agreed, that people who are thin are definitely more susceptible to osteoporosis. What is the elephant in the living room? The medical community also agrees that calcium and Vitamin D must be stored in body fat. Vitamin D can be stored for months ahead of time, which helps those who live in northern climes and do not get enough sunshine during winter months. Should it be a surprise that low body fat people run out of the calcium and vitamin D they need to ward off osteoporosis? It was to me. My diet might have been part of the problem.When I competed at the British IRC (75-79 Lwt male) on 17 November 2002 I didn't have a clue. I was dumbfounded four months later to be told, after a hunch by my new physician that I have a DEXA scan, that I had severe osteoporosis in both hips (T-scores of -3.8 and -2.6). The spine was fairly good at T -1.1. The T-scores have since gotten somewhat worse but I have now given in to taking medication. I was never a drinker to excess, have cut back to one cola can per day (to cut down on phosphoric acid which is said to bind the calcium away from storage in body fat), have always lived where my water did not come from wells, have lived in a two story house for 50 years with 13 risers between floors, and know of only minor family tendency toward osteoporosis. I've never smoked. I am presently awaiting results of a blood test to see if low testosterone could be part of my problem. There is another part to the story.At that same BIRC race I didn't know that I had a melanoma on my neck. Being susceptible to skin cancer I do avoid the sun quite a bit. That same, new physician called the shot correctly on the melanoma, which was caught in-situ after a dermatologist and former physician had been giving it a pass for years.So those rowers, on water or indoors, who think they have low body fat (and devoted rowers nearly all do) make sure you are taking adequate calcium plus Vitamin D.