Cathy McSherry, diagnosed with lupus, faces the risk of developing osteoporosis.

From Food&Health Correspondent Linda Ciampa

(CNN) -- Many lupus patients benefit from corticosteroids, drugs that can have troubling side effects. But a research team is looking at ways to relieve one of the most serious effects, bone loss and the early onset of osteoporosis.

Cathy McSherry suffers from lupus, a disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own organs. The disease, which affects more women than men, strikes about one in 700 women in the United States.

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CNN's Linda Ciampa reports
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There is concern that the corticosteroid drugs that are keeping her alive may be speeding up the aging process of her bones.

Researchers at Northwestern University are studying her and other lupus patients to see whether they can prevent the bone weakening effect.

"There are over a million fractures that are probably related to osteoporosis in the U.S. and the cost of that is over 10 billion dollars a year," said researcher Dr. Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman of the Northwestern University Medical School.

Doctors also prescribe corticosteroids for treatment of a number of other inflammatory diseases including asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.

"If we can come up with a program to counterbalance at least a portion of osteoporosis that might be related to the corticosteroids -- how we can counterbalance the negative effects for lupus patients, perhaps these strategies could be used for other patients," Ramsey-Goldman said.

McSherry is trying to strengthen her bones with exercise, such as walking, and a diet rich in calcium.

"When they started this study, they had us fill out a survey and I realized I probably wasn't getting as much calcium as I should have," she said.