You can try as hard as you like, but you have to accept that no matter how healthy you try to live, you are going to get some of the diseases of aging. Like my mother, grandmother, and aunts, I have osteoporosis,. I was not ignorant all of my life (that is just a recent occurrence) and ate a diet high in calcium and was at least as active as recommended (until I was HBC and damaged my knees, I ran 40 mi/week, now I walk). When I was 45, I developed an ovarian tumor. I don't know about you guys, but they couldn't take it out fast enough to suit me. It put me into a surgical menopause, so I used an estrogen patch to carry me to the average age of menopause. Within a year of stopping the estrogen, I was osteopenic. For a while I was able to hold steady-- I think because of Tai-Chi. 2 years ago I became osteoporotic. About that time my favorite aunt was in a nursing home because of an osteoporotic spinal fracture. Watching her agony, and knowing that she had been a model of healthy living and eating; made me decide to try Fosamax. Well, it gave me GERD, and I now know it contributed to my leg cramps. I was prepared to go without any further medication until a year ago when my mother fell and broke her sacrum. It put her into a nursing home for 3 months. More importantly, it damaged the nerves controlling her bowel and bladder. Now my fastidious mother is totally incontinent. She is able to walk, but she rarely goes out because it takes 4 Depends to keep her dry for 2 hours. She wears vinyl underpants over them. Of course, her fecal incontinence increases her risk of urinary tract infections, and she has had a total knee replacement. Every time she goes out her front door she asks "Am I wet?", and again every time she gets out of the car. She is mortified. That is what osteoporosis can do to people. Mostly it puts them in nursing homes because of hip or spinal fractures. Much of trying to live healthy is about making choices you don't want to have to make. Do I take the small risk of complications now, or hope that I can avoid the large risk of serious osteoporotic problems later? Since all 3 of my aunts and my mother has had an osteoporotic fracture put them in a nursing home for 3 to 6 months, I chose to try Reclast, at least for this year, and continue to monitor the studies on the drugs. I don't want to celebrate my 70th birthday (only 9 years away) in a nursing home with a broken hip, wishing I had done more to prevent it.