Osteoporosis/body armor

Kathi,
your post was excellent and informative.
It sounds like you are a combination of doing everything right after you found out about this.
I think i'll go back to my dr and have her check my Vit. D that's a good idea too, Wavedancer.

I am 55 and have not lost any height at all but my grandmother sure did by the time she was in her late 80's.

I hear these other drug names; Actonel, Boniva but I don't know anything about any of them. My Dr thinks that Fosamax is going to be available generically soon; which should really improve the price. THis first dose gave me Diarrhea
already so I am not sure I"m going to continue taking it.

thanks everyone, I appreciate hearing from other people about their experiences.

Thanks Mimitabby,

My mom and grandmother's generation thought bone loss was part of old age. Now we know better. In fact, they didn't even know they were losing bone. My grandmother was a farm woman and a cow kicked her. Her dowager's hump and back pain were attributed to the kick from the cow!

I've been following osteoporosis since the early 80's when my mom's Dr. made the statement about her bones being like Styrofoam.

The National Osteopororosis Foundation has a very informative website,
WWW.NOF.org.

Good luck with your research.

for complete article go here:
http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2003news/bonedensity.htm

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- As the debate over the safety of hormone replacement therapy continues, University of Florida nurse researchers have shown in a small but promising study that a combination of vitamin supplements, exercise and weight training may provide postmenopausal women an alternate way to improve bone health and prevent osteoporosis.

In a UF study of postmenopausal women who were not taking hormone replacement therapy, those who participated in a regular exercise regimen that included weight training and took vitamin D and calcium showed significant improvements in bone density, strength and balance.

A growing body of evidence supports the benefits of exercise for the prevention of bone loss that commonly occurs with aging, but the latest findings are among the first to show exercise that includes resistance training can actually build bone-a result hormones have never achieved. Results from the preliminary study are described in the current issue of the journal Biological Research for Nursing.

“Vitamin D and calcium supplements can help slow down the loss of bone, and most hormone treatments can only stop future bone loss,” said James Jessup, the study’s principal investigator and an associate professor in UF’s College of Nursing who also is affiliated with UF’s Institute on Aging. “There is no drug out there that can cause the kind of improvement in bone density that was displayed in the research participants.”

Although the study was small, Jessup said the results are promising and likely will lead to expanded research efforts aimed at finding ways to improve bone health in postmenopausal women without the use of hormones.

UF researchers studied 20 healthy women ages 60 to 75 who lived in a community retirement facility. Half were randomly assigned to a group who exercised routinely and half to a control group who did not. Past scientific research has shown physical activity can improve balance, but to stimulate bone formation, resistance must be used in combination with exercise. Therefore, the exercisers wore weighted vests while doing cardiovascular exercise.

All the study’s participants maintained their usual eating habits and were supplied with and asked to take 1,000 milligrams of calcium citrate malate, the full U.S. recommended daily allowance for adult women, and 400 international units of vitamin D, twice the U.S. R.D.A. Past research has shown that supplements of calcium and vitamin D can reduce bone loss and the risk of fractures in older people.

In the women who exercised over a 32-week period, bone mineral density increased an average of 11 percent, as seen on X-ray imaging. In addition, their strength increased 26 percent, and their balance increased 27 percent. The women participated in supervised calisthenics, strength training, walking and stair climbing for 60 to 90 minutes three times a week. This included working with weight machines, and engaging in balance and agility training. The bone density of the women not participating in exercise actually decreased an average of 5 percent, and strength and balance did not change.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/520577

this one used younger women, a median age of 55


Dec. 28, 2005 — Exercise and calcium supplementation improve bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women, according to the results of a 4-year study reported in the December issue of Osteoporosis International.

"The good news is these long-term data confirmed the potent combination of improved nutrition and increased physical activity to prevent bone loss," principal investigator Timothy Lohman, PhD, from the University of Arizona in Tucson, said in a news release. "The extended use of calcium supplementation and exercise counteracted the typical loss of BMD in women at this age, in a regimen that women really can stick with. This is quite significant for younger women as well, as these exercises and calcium supplementation can help build peak BMD which may prevent health problems and osteoporosis in the future."

last fri i went and had a scan,im -2.2 in my spine and -2.9 in my hips,which means ive to get a dr appointmaent next week to discuss drugs.........this post has been awesome(yet again).........im also starting the pill to get periods back which should help,and i do do weights and walk a hell of a lot.


my reaction to the bad news was to go home and clean,i mean things like emptying cupboards,having a clear out from under the bed etc etc.

so every cloud has a silver lining!:)

Just remember -- hip guards and padding won't prevent fractures. They'll make your fall hurt a little less, but the force of a fall that will break an osteopenic femur will still break it through the padding. Just like wrist guards for rollerblading -- they don't decrease incidence of fracture, they just prevent palmar road rash and cause the true break to occur further up your arm.

We participate in a non-weight-bearing sport. It doesn't help us maintain our bone density. We need to do weight-bearing exercise as well for maximum bone health (in addition to calcium, vitamin D, folate to keep homocysteine in check, figuring out our hormones and using bisphosphonates like Actonel when appropriate)!

Chick
I dont' think most of us are getting hip protectors, this thread has evolved into a help thread for people with Osteoporosis/Osteopenia diagnoses.

I have started lifting weights 3x a week and doing stairs 15+ minutes 5 days a week AND walking a mile a day 5 days a week.
All of this on top of bike riding, you're right, cycling is not weight bearing, but it improves stamina, and makes it easier to do all that other stuff.
oh yeah, and taking vitamins.

I am taking Evista regularly now, since I have had osteopenia for at least 5 years and I am progressing rapidly toward osteoporosis. I've been post menopause for almost 5 years and I am 53. I tried Fosomax twice and I had the worst side effects: diarrea, intense heartburn,, the works. Been taking calcium/vitaminD for 25 years. I hope something works. Family history is not good for this either.
I need to do weight lifting more regularly. It's the thing that always seems to go when I am short on time. I do hike, walk, snow shoe, but I wish I could run
to get some of that good pounding exercise. That hurts other things! I really want to be able to keep mountain biking, even the wimpy way I do. So far, I've had a couple of road crashes, but no broken bones.
This sucks. I have eaten healthy since I was about 24, and never drank much soda. I do drink coffee and I am hoping that isn't making it worse. It's my only vice.

Robyn,
Keep your coffee. But get with the weight bearing program. I don't run either, but I can do stairs with the best of them. (I'm going to be in a competition in a few weeks, 69 flights of stairs!)

I wish I could run, but whenever I try (you know, run 300 feet) my whole body tells me it's not good, and shortly, I stop.

well,ive been on the pill for 2 months now for my bones,wonder whats going on inside-if only we could look!!oddly i dont think its given me bigger tits,i got no spots and i bled for a mere second,no kidding,HOW DULL.


i drip milk into me,love it,i work upstairs at home so run up and down them constantly,BUT did wonder after a previous reply should i do a conscious 15 mins of up and down as an exercise????walk the dog.im afraid im a bit 2 fingers to running:rolleyes:


gave up fizzy drinks 9 months ago and no regrets,infact my halo shines and aspertame,a harder thing to kick but all possible and very worthwhile,my place is secure in heaven-if only!


my vice is tea,but there again im am british and most things are solved over a cuppa

Hi, My name is silver and I have osteopenia.

add me to the list. I'm 42. I've been referred to start some sort of Rx therapy. My hip number was -1.44 down from -.98 at 38.

This thread has been good info.

I've been doing weight training, running, and taking calcium for the last 5 years and the numbers still going down.

:( :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silver

Hi, My name is silver and I have osteopenia.

add me to the list. I'm 42. I've been referred to start some sort of Rx therapy. My hip number was -1.44 down from -.98 at 38.

This thread has been good info.

I've been doing weight training, running, and taking calcium for the last 5 years and the numbers still going down.

:( :(

---

Silver, that's a bummer, how much calcium are you taking?

hellosunshine, how long do you think you can take the pill for your bones?

read about Bone Divas

I'm taking supplements of 1000 mg calcium and 200 iu of Vit D. In addition a lot of the other things I eat have added calcium. I need to make the appt with my family doctor but am somehow procrastinating. :rolleyes:


hummm.....looks like I could up the vit D, but isn't there risk to too much vit D? I wonder what that is....

make sure you are getting 500 of Vit D (not too much) and also BORON.

Mimi, when you do stair climbing, do you run or walk? I can't see me running up the stairs! I can do it cardio wise, but my knees would suffer. Where do you do this?

Robyn