How to Prevent Osteoporosis

Summary

This is a summary of the first two chapters of Your Bones by Lara Pizzorno, LA, LMT with Johnathan V. Wright, MD.  They clearly define osteoporosis and those who are at the highest risk. They also reveal that pharmaceuticals approved to treat it have some very shocking and even deadly side effects.  Finally, they leaves us with hope in sharing that this issue is preventable and better treated through natural supplements.

Osteoporosis defined: It is a decrease in bone density which leads to an increase in probability of a fracture in even normal everyday activities.

Women are at higher risk for two key reasons:

1.  They have lower bone density then men to begin with
2. During menopause estrogen and progesterone levels drop. These hormones are key to building bone.  This is a double whammy effect because estrogen prevents excessive removal of worn out bone while progesterone is required for building bone.  After menopause, 1 in 4 women will develop osteoporosis.  Men are not immune to osteoporosis, but it hits them later at around age 70.

Osteoporosis is preventable but not through the common recommendation of pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals, aka patent medicines, are incompatible with our body and have some very detrimental side effects.  Patent medicines in their opinion should be used as a last resort and even then, for a short period of time and with caution.

Current bisphosphonate patent medicines for osteoporosis which include oral forms Fosamax®, Actonel®, Boniva®, as well as IV forms Reclast® and Aclasta®, have horrible side effects including:

• Severe and sometimes incapacitating bone, joint or muscle pain
• Jawbone death – when taken longer than two years, it greatly increases ONJ (osteonecrosis of the jaw which there is no cure for)
• Chronic Oral Infections
• Irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)

Overall, the bisphosphonates cause retention of the old, brittle bones.  They suppress the activity of specialized cells called osteoclasts which remove damaged bone.  This damaged bone stays in place so there is no room for new bone. The result is fragile bones.

Other side effects include:

• Erosions and ulcerations of the throat
• Severe damage to gastrointestinal tract
• Esophageal cancer – risk increases by 50%
• Influenza like symptoms
• Severe muscle pain (Myalgia)
• Deterioration of kidney function and kidney failure
• Too little calcium in the circulation – which can cause seizures, lower stomach acid so food is not properly digested, dementia, dangerously low blood pressure, bronchospasm and heat failure
• Increased risk of bone fracture! In fact, it has been determined that after 5 years of taking a bisphosphonate drug, it will not only cause a fracture, but it may also prevent bone from healing.

Since this initial publication in 2011, even more research has surfaced indicating that use of bisphosphonates may increase the chance of fractures.  As of April 2012, 630 peer reviewed papers have been published that confirm that bisphosphonates are more likely to harm you then to help your bones. The findings quite frankly are appalling and would take many pages to list the negative side effects.

As the years have passed, first the FDA denied that bisphosphonates could have adverse effects, then their stance went to  “cause uncertain, but may exist”, then to “they cause this event, but it is rare”, and finally we are told that “they are the cause of adverse events.”  The sad reality is that most patients are NOT being informed of the real risks associated with taking bisphosphonates.

A Silver Lining, Naturally: A study done called COMB (Combination of Micronutrients for Bone) demonstrated that “providing our bones with the nutrients they need along with regular weight-bearing exercise is as or more effective than any of the bisphosphonates or strontium ranelate, and a lot less expensive!“ They utilized a combination of vitamin D3, DHA, K2, strontium citrate, magnesium and dietary calcium  as well as some weight-bearing exercise, and a healthful diet.  Their finding was that this protocol can help produce healthy bones for life naturally without any of the patent medicine side effects.

Another bone building study done in 2012 using natural supplements resulted in performing better than the placebo group and had less side effects.  This is powerful information because in many cases, due to the power of the mind, placeboes have been shown to work as good as or even better than the test “drug”.  In this case, the “drugs” were natural supplements, so this result speaks volumes to the power of getting proper nutrients for our bones.

Even with the evidence of the power of dealing with osteoporosis naturally, two other new patent medicines have been Introduced to the market which include:

1. Denosumab (aka Prolia®, Xgeva®) may have even more detrimental outcomes for us than the bisphosphonates because it also interferes with our production of immune cells.
2. Teriparatide (aka Forteo®) has been proven to cause cancer in almost 50% of the rats it was trialed on, but the FDA approved it anyway stating that its effects on humans were unknown.

Sound Advice:

The evidence is black and white.  Instead of being a lab rat for the pharmaceutical companies and exposing ourselves to all the risks of patent medicines for osteoporosis, each of us needs to be proactive.  We can maintain and restore the health of our bones naturally through the proven protocol of proper supplements, exercise and diet. https://wwwtemp.motivatedbynature.com/nature-based-healing/

This issue is one that I am incredibly passionate about.  I am now armed with evidence-based research that I can present to my mom’s doctor to help get her on the right natural protocol to deal with her osteoporosis without all the nasty side effects of pharmaceuticals. This book should be mandatory reading for every woman once they turn 40 to find out how they can have healthy, happy bones for life.  Please comment and share with all the women in your life. The book is available in its entirety on Amazon at: http://tiny.cc/g5yl7y