Sally Field has inspired millions of middle aged women to try and prevent osteoporosis with a new and exciting group of drugs, Fosomax, Boniva and others. These drugs are hitting the market and are generating billions of dollars for the drug industry, yet are women truly healthier? First of all, it’s helpful to know a few important facts before trying answer this question.

How does bone growth and bone loss work?

Many people don’t realize this, but bone is constantly changing. Old bone is being removed to make way for new bone. This is always occurring and in a healthy adult, the skeleton is totally renewed approximately every ten years. We have cells that break down old bone and we have cells that lay down new bone.

These osteoporosis drugs work by shutting down the cells that break down old bone. What this means is that the bones ability to recycle old bone is reduced. Basically if you can’t remove old bone, your bones will look more dense on x-rays and bone density scans but that doesn’t mean that they are stronger and less likely to fracture.

Rare thigh bone fractures…What the heck is going on here?

In fact, on March 24, 2010 a New York Times headline read “Researchers puzzled by role of osteoporosis drug in rare thigh bone fractures.” The article went on to discuss more and more women being reported in the medical literature that have spontaneous fractures of their Femur, or thigh bone. A key thing to get is that the femur should not just break. With severe trauma it can but it should never “just break”. The article went on to state that some of these women were as young at their 50’s and didn’t have osteoporosis. The one thing that all of these women had in common, is they were taking osteoporosis drugs. There are also lawsuits pending against Merck regarding incidences of “Jaw Rot” being caused by Fosomax. Merck denies responsibility, but this is the same company that brought you Vioxx that was implemented in harm in over 10,000 lawsuits.

To answer our question about whether these drugs make women healthier or not, our office says no.

What you can do for natural bone strength

Regular exercise:

You must stress your bones to keep them strong. Weight lifting is great for this. Make sure you are using proper form and a good routine. Exercise classes in the pool don’t count here. Pool work decreases bone stress, so even though it’s popular in the aging populating, it’s not the best for bone strength. We have seen patients reverse bone loss and regain bone strength with a solid exercise plan.

Avoid acid stopping medication: Folks with acid reflux often take this type of med. These drugs over time increase risk of hip fracture as well as infection. If you want a natural fix to acid reflux and other digestive problems, talk to a holistic doctor.Avoid soda: The phosphoric acid in them over time can play a role in bone loss.

Optimize stress handling: Chronic stress will cause bone loss as well as countless other health problems. Stress builds up in our nervous system and alters brain and autonomic nervous system function. Most people are unaware if they have neurological stress. To test this, you need to measure brain wave activity and other parameters such as hand temperature and heart rate. This is critically important because the nervous system controls all the systems of our body. Neurologically based chiropractic care is great to improve and retrain the body’s nervous system and reduce neurological stress.

Chiropractic care: As stated above, chiropractic care improves neurological function. It is also excellent at improving joint position and alignment. This leads to less wear and tear on bones and joints, reduce the potential for arthritis, improve balance and reduced likely hood of falls. These are all important for bone health.

Rely on good nutrition, not questionable supplementation: Taking a lot of Calcium is not the answer. Bone building depends on a lot more than Calcium, such as Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Zinc, Copper, etc. Taking one piece to this puzzle long term, only disrupts normal function. Follow the TrueHealth diet 80-90% of the time. Whole food, broad spectrum supplements are an added bonus. Fermented foods, sunshine, vegetables are all more important than milk. Here’s an interesting fact, the US drinks more milk than any other country. We also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Hmmmm?

If you or a loved one is taking these osteoporosis drugs we strongly encourage you to research the side effects of these drugs sooner rather than later and consider optimizing lifestyle options mentioned above. Let us know if you have any questions or if we can be of any help to you or your loved ones.

Blessings,
True Health in Overland Park!