Osteoporosis

Helping people make CHANGES^® Osteoporosis

Focus on Osteoporosis...

Myths about osteoporosis...

	Myth: Age is the number one predictor of osteoporosis. Reality: Body weight is the number one predictor. Bones will be only as strong as they need to be to support your weight. Female gymnasts, and anorexics, have low bone density. Astronauts in outer space lose bone mass rapidly because of the lack of gravity. (They have no weight, so they become unglued.)
	Myth: The more calcium you consume the greater your bone density. Reality: Trying to build strong bones by overdosing on calcium is like trying to build a stronger house by putting extra shingles on it. Bone is complex tissue that requires a wide range of nutrients.
	Myth: Estrogen replacement increases bone density. Reality: Estrogen slows down bone resorption but does not increase the production of bone. (Resorption involves the breakdown of bone cells.)
	Myth: Protein leaches calcium from bone. Reality: Vegan vegetarians are at higher risk for osteoporosis because the foundation of bone is protein. Low protein diets result in low bone density. (Did you know that bones are 40% protein by weight?)
	Myth: If you want strong bones you have to bank calcium when you are young. Once you are older it is impossible to build bone. Wrong! I know of individuals with low bone density in their 20s but very strong bones post menopause. While we may not produce new bone as quickly in old age as we did during our growing years, bone turnover continues until the day we die.
	Myth: Men are not at risk for osteoporosis. Reality: 25% of persons with osteoporosis are men. And, as with women, it is body weight (or lack of same) that puts them at risk.

Osteoporosis risk factors:

	low body weight
	inactivity
	amenorrhea/ menopause
	alcohol consumption
	nutritional deficiencies:

protein

vitamin C

magnesium

vitamin D (sunshine)

manganese

copper

zinc

vitamin K

calcium

phosphorus

To increase bone density:

	Maintain adequate body weight for your height.
	Engage in weight bearing and weight lifting exercise.
	Aim for a balanced diet with adequate protein.
	Quit smoking.
	Keep your diet slightly alkaline.
	Avoid acid blockers.

Nutrients & Nutraceuticals that may increase bone density...

	Boron (Typical dosage: 3 mg)
	vitamin K - required for the synthesis of osteocalcin, a protein which helps deposit minerals on bone matrix.
	manganese – required for synthesis of connective tissue, especially cartilage
	copper – is essential for the enzyme lysyl oxidase, required for collagen synthesis
	zinc – stimulates protein synthesis in bone
	silicon – promotes the formation of bone
	magnesium – 400 mg – will do more to increase bone density than calcium
	calcium – in general don’t go over 800 mg. a day. And don't take calcium without also taking magnesium.
	B6, B12, and folic acid – to lower homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is associated with osteoporosis as well as heart disease.
	vitamin D - needed to absorb minerals such as calcium.
	potassium - an alkaline mineral found in most fruits and vegetables that many people don't get enough of.
	Vitamin C - needed for the production of bone matrix.

The best supplements for bone density...

Ideal supplements to increase bone density should include not just calcium but magnesium, as well as most of the nutrients listed above. There are two supplements I've found that I recommend. The first is OsteoActiv from DaVinci Laboratories. It contains calcium from Hydroxyapatite (bone meal) plus most of the above listed nutritients, and 100 mg. of chondroitin sulfates. The second is OsteoForce from Designs for Health, which also contains most of the nutrients on the above list.

FYI: The number one source of supplemental calcium in use today is calcium carbonate. Do you know what calcium carbonate is? It’s limestone. Do you know what limestone is used for? Cement! Add some sand and water, stir it up and voila. I have this fantasy that all over America millions of women will one day swallow 3000 mg of calcium carbonate in unison and suddenly solidify into cement statues.

If you have opted for Hormone Replacement Therapy...

	Don’t take unopposed estrogen! Meaning: Don't take just estrogen without progesterone to balance it. Women on just estrogen tend to suffer from some serious depression.
	Be aware that estrogen increases risk of blood clots.
	If you take both estrogen & calcium your risk of blood clots is even greater. (Calcium is part of the clotting mechanism.)
	Be aware that estrogen doesn’t build bone. (Progesterone does.) What estrogen does is slow down the rate of bone loss, which is not the same as increasing bone density.
	Progesterone – better than estrogen at increasing bone density.
	Testosterone – also better than estrogen at increasing bone density.
	Say no to Premarin & Provera. Premarin is made from the urine of a pregnant horse. It contains hundreds of different chemicals which have no relationship to the hormones which are normal for a woman's body. Provera is a synthetic progesterone, associated with all kinds of side effects, including weight gain.
	If you choose to take estrogen or progesterone take a form which is natural & bioidentical. One estrogen that is recommended by many health professionals is "estriol." It is available through a compounding pharmacy, such as Women’s International pharmacy, 1-(800) 279-5708. A compounding pharmacy will be able to add additional hormones such as a natural progesterone, testosterone, or DHEA to create a supplement suited to your needs.

Storm Warnings:

Caution: If you are on the prescription blood thinner Coumadin (aka Warfarin,) you need to know that it works by destroying (or inhibiting) vitamin K in the body. Without vitamin K we cannot make bone, and sooner or later are likely to develop osteoporosis as a result. If you need to be on a blood thinner there are numerous nutritional blood thinners that work by a different mechanism, and don’t increase our risk for osteoporosis. In addition, in the absence of vitamin K arteries become calcified and are more likely to become damaged as a result.

Caution: Countless numbers of women are being frightened into taking medications like Fosamax for the sake of their bones. If you were to look Fosamax up in a Physicians Desk Reference you would learn that it does not increase the build up of bone. Rather it slows down bone resorption, which is the breakdown of bone cells. But, if you do not break down old cells you cannot make new ones. What you end up with are brittle fragile bones that are more likely to break. Currently, all across America women are literally disintegrating because of these dangerous medications. Many women have developed jaw necrosis -- their jaw bone has died!

During the 1950s the "truth" about calcium was that it was only a required nutrient until you were 18 years of age. Once you were fully grown you no longer needed calcium to make bones and teeth. Bones and teeth were considered "dead" tissue. Once formed, that was the end of it. Bone cells did not turn over or get replaced like other cells in the body.

Oops. Sometime between then and now someone discovered that bone is indeed alive, and like other cells of the body continually turning over. Meaning: old bone cells are broken down, and new ones are formed. For years the RDA for adult women was 800 mg. Then all over America millions of women started having hot flashes and the truth about calcium evolved. Thus, the RDA was raised to 1000 mg. Then 1200 mg. And then 1500 mg. Some gynecologists have started recommending 2000 mg. of calcium per day to their female clients, and I have no doubt that before long, someone will make it 3000.

No matter that bone is only about 20% calcium. (No one seems concerned about the other 80%.) No matter that large amounts of calcium taken by itself, without the other nutrients required for the production of bone, may increase our risk for blood clots, stroke, arteriosclerosis, and even cancer.

Truth, you see, is fluid. It changes, not only from person to person, but from moment to moment. It is influenced by politics, economics, and the prevailing cultural mythology. Currently, the prevailing truth about calcium is that post-menopausal women need gargantuan amounts of it to keep their bones from disintegrating. Women are being pressured by their physicians to take huge quantities of calcium, and to take drugs like Fosomax in an effort to stave off osteoporosis.

Clearly, the truth has changed. But is the notion that we need 2000 mg. per day any more accurate than the idea the we don’t need any at all because bone is dead tissue? No. Both are inaccurate. Today's version exists because of the stories we tell ourselves about osteoporosis, and because of the treatments we have invented to treat it. Osteoporosis exists in part because the health care industry and the pharmaceutical industry depend on the existence of chronic disease in order to survive.

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