Bone Health and Osteoporosis Alert

Did you see ABC World News this past Monday night?

There was a special about Fosamax after some alarming problems detected by medical doctors after seeing trends of broken legs in women taking this drug.

Many people believe that osteoporosis is a normal effect of getting older. In fact, many people think that adding a simple medication, as a security measure, is the best way to prevent brittle bones and osteoporosis related problems after menopause.

But the truth may be far worse than the ABC report describes. Below, click and watch the ABC News video, then continue reading the rest of the blog post.

One word of caution while watching this. You will continue to see and hear the interviewed doctors and reporters positioning the continued use of this drug as safe for some women and not for others. (Keep in mind pharmaceutical companies sponsor news programs like ABC News) Currently, I am not aware of any test to determine which women may be eligible to benefit from which medication, so it sounds like a case of Russian Roulette.

Here's the ABC News Report


This is not the first story to break regarding osteoporosis drugs and increased health problems.

Osteoporosis medications have been linked to a host of side effects including debilitating muscle pain and a serious bone problem, osteonecrosis of the jaw, which literally causes the jaw bone to die. Now comes a study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine scientists that evaluated a possible association between bisphosphonates and the development of irregular, sometimes fatal, heart arrhythmia's. NaturalNews.com

In my opinion the effects of any medications block the body's normal ability to communicate with itself, therefore leading to confusion, and over time, more problems - aka disease.

For more articles associated with osteoporosis medications review the links below:

Washington Post: Study Links Osteoporosis Drugs to Jaw Trouble
Food and Drug Administration, FDA: Severe Pain with Osteoporosis Drugs (3rd article down)

If you would like more information regarding osteoporosis, increasing your quality of life, or understanding many other health concerns visit our website or attend one of our free workshops.

More bad news about medication for Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, drugs that could harm you & your posture
I was reading the September 7, 2008 N.Y. Times on-line and surfing mindlessly through the website when I came across this article on Osteoporosis. I don’t exactly know how I got there, but if you’ve ever been on the web, you know how this happens. After reading a while I thought this would be a good topic to write about in this issue of our email newsletter.

Drugs that could harm youThere was an article in the July 15th 2008 edition of the on-line Times. It reported that patients taking certain medications to prevent weak bones may not be getting the protection they thought they were. Many physicians were reporting seeing spontaneous fractures in their patients taking the exact medication that is supposed to prevent this. There has been research that proves the long-term use of Fosamax could lead to weak bones. Wow!
I have been aware for years of the dangers of the different prescription medications that have been used to treat osteoporosis. The argument has always seemed to be one of an individual’s ability to maintain adequate lifestyle modification (a healthy lifestyle) versus taking medication. I can understand why a family physician would assume that his/her recommendations of lifestyle modifications and proper diet and exercise would not be widely accepted or should I say diligently adhered to. We all know to some degree what is and what isn’t healthy to eat. However, few can consistently make the correct decisions as to what to eat and when to eat it. This is why they call the standard American diet SAD.

A few years ago one of the most common medical interventions for women was HRT (hormone replacement therapy). A very popular healthcare-related website reported “HRT boosts the risk of stroke by almost one-third and the risk of fatal or disabling stroke by more than half. These conclusions were drawn based on 28 trials involving nearly 40,000 women”. (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/01/26/hrt-strokes.aspx)

Here’s a brief statement about how widespread Osteoporosis is.
“Researchers estimate that about 1 out of 5 American women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis. About half of all women over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra (bones of the spine).” From the N.Y. Times website. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/osteoporosis/overview.html

Osteoporosis & your posture
We commonly see the aging becoming more and more hunched forward. Most assume this is a product of aging and even more think this is caused by Osteoporosis. Both are entirely false. If hunching forward was a part of aging, why wouldn’t everybody creep forward and hunch forward at the same rate? Some simple logic will point out the weakness in the argument that age causes forward hunched posture (we refer to it as Forward Head Posture).

There was research conducted by a Mechanical engineer and published in one of the most prestigious spine-related research journals in the world, Spine. This researcher found that the forward bending posture of the upper back (thoracic) and neck causes Osteoporosis or bone weakening to begin. I have copied and referenced part of the conclusion from that research article. I added some explanation after it in bold italics.

“Postural forces are responsible for initiation of osteoporotic spinal deformity in elderly subjects. Vertebral deformities are exacerbated by anterior translation of the upper spinal column, which increases compressive loads in the thoracolumbar region of the spine.”
http://www.spinejournal.com/pt/re/spine/abstract.00007632-200303010-00009.htm;jsessionid=LGQMCNXv5kwwYhy2htkn1v4ysJL342P04PJ1LGtsLQ1XTP2PqNzp!-1004083789!181195629!8091!-1

The researchers concluded that the forward bending posture of the upper back and neck (like the Forward Head Posture I describe to my patient’s that are so afflicted) is an initiating event in the beginning stages of Osteoporosis. To make this a bit clearer, Forward Head Posture is a very important risk factor which can tell us if a person may eventually develop Osteoporosis. Just like smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, having poor posture could eventually lead to Osteoporosis. Every week I am lucky enough to see patient’s improving their Forward Head Posture. They are happy because they feel better, I am happy because I know they are healthier in so many other ways.