Osteoporosis/body armor

[DarcyInOregon]

That is why the homocysteine levels and B vitamins are linked to OS. The B vitamins assist in bone density, and at the same time lower homocysteine levels. However it is a long-term kind of thing, and the person needs to have had a balanced diet over the years that included all of the food groups. With regards to my brother, he started taking the folic acid and other B vitamins, and the homocysteine levels didn't come down enough. He increased his dosages, the months passed, and the homocysteine levels were still high. Then the brain stem strokes started. He didn't have enough time to get the homocysteines down by adding the B vitamins to his diet before he started experiencing the complications.

It is scary to have OS, or the precursors to OS. I really feel for you. I have been around people who had OS seriously, and when the fractures started, particularly in the spine, the pain was so intense they began to give up on life, and they died within a few years.

It is hard to remember what we were doing when we were in our teens and 20s. Mostly, OS is a function of diet and exercise during those years. How many of us had friends and were around people who were always on a restricted "diet" of some kind, and by restricted I mean major food groups were eliminated entirely or reduced to barely anything, like Atkins. The human body needs complete nutrition. The inner organs need all sorts of nutrients in order to function, particularly the heart. When a person goes on a diet that is too low in calories or is not endorsed by the medical community, and the result is the body doesn't get enough nutrients, then the body will draw the nutrients from the bones in order to keep the organs functioning. People think it is about body weight, that body weight is the indicator of health, and in reality it is the diet and exercise over the long-term that is the real indicator of health.

I was lucky. In my first year of college I took a nutrition course as a science requirement, and the knowledge I gained from that course was invaluable. I am referring to the year 1973 when what we knew about nutrition was much more primitive, but I went through that course and learned that females should never take their calories below 1200, that 1500 is best when dieting, and that one always eats three balanced meals from the all of the food groups. I think taking that course saved me from what so many females do, which is going on 800 calorie a day diets, or going on fad diets that eliminate entire food groups. In the years ahead of us, my prediction is we will see an increase of people with severe OS because of all of the people who have spent long periods of time on Atkins and other non-medically approved restrictive diets, and who thus starved their bodies of essential nutrients.

Darcy

[mimitabby]

Darcy, inactivity is probably what got me. And I remember vividly my diet and my life back then. When I was 18, I was living with a young man who had a doting mother. She was obsessed about his health, and he was sort of what you'd call now a slacker, so she decided to teach ME how to cook. She sent me all the Adele Davis books. I have thanked her many times over for teaching me about lovely vegetables and all sorts of good food.

You are probably right about the future of american health because of dieting. I figure when we're 80 we will be taking care of 30 - 50 year olds whose health has collapsed.

My grandmother broke her hip when she was 88 or 89 and then got up and walked. She wasn't going to let that hold her back. Unfortunately Lou Gehrig's got her 3 years later.

So I will put books in my back pack when i go for walks now!

[maryellen]

<<any of you ever see ANY improvement?>>

yes, i've been taking fosomax for approx 3.5 yrs and have seen some, albeit minor improvements. i've had no problems w side effects other than annoyance that i can't have my morning coffee for 30 minutes after i take it!

[mimitabby]

MaryEllen, I just took my first pill today.
My mother saw no improvement.
Where did they get the great stats that they include with each pill packet???

[wavedancer]

Most of the studies on Fosamax and Actonel and the other bisphosphonates look at the end point of fracture risk reduction. While you may not see a dramatic increase in bone density as measured by a Dexa scan, most of the reported studies show decreased hip and spine fractures. Many of us living in northern climates probably have decreased vitamin D levels, and that is something else you may want to ask your health care provider to check. It can be done with a simple blood test. I am trying to remember to take a daily vitamin D supplement of 1000 units as well as calcium 1200mg a day.

[Kathi]

<<any of you ever see ANY improvement?>>

yes, i've been taking fosomax for approx 3.5 yrs and have seen some, albeit minor improvements. i've had no problems w side effects other than annoyance that i can't have my morning coffee for 30 minutes after i take it!

Me!

I just had my dexascan before Christmas and I've had no changes in 2.5 years so my Dr. took me off Actonel!

It hasn't always been that way. At age 51 I fell off my mtn bike and broke my wrist. I had read that for woman in her early 50's a broken hip, wrist or ankle is a red flag for osteoporosis and should be checked. My Dr's kept telling me that my break was common for the type of fall I had and not to worry. Besides, I exercised, took calcium and was still on BC pills (which gave me extra hormones). My Dr. told me I was too young for a dexa scan and the insurance wouldn't pay for it.

However, my grandmother had a dowagers hump for as long as I could remember, my mom had her first break (wrist) in her early 50's, had broken both hips by the time she was 73 and had broken several other bones. She was taller than me and now barely came up to my shoulder. The Dr's said her bones were like "Styrofoam". About the time I was trying to get my first scan(my mom was about 85) she had a dexa scan. There were numerous fractures of her spine, her 7th vertebra had disintegrated and she was riddled with arthritis. So yes, I was worried that I was following in her footsteps.

I finally got tested and I had osteopenia in my spine. My Dr. was shocked! He put me on Actonel. BTW, the insurance payed for the test.

My second test a year later was very good so I waited another 2 years to get tested. That one was scary as I now had osteopenia in my hip as well in my spine. At that time I was on hrt as well as actonel.

In the fall of 04 I stopped taking hrt so I was really worried about the results of my latest dexa scan. I was quite surprised when the Dr's office came back with the good news, no changes, no more Actonel.

I'm not sure why I haven't had any changes in the last 3 years. Some thoughts are that I'm past the 5 year post menopausal mark in which bone loss is the most rapid, I increased my calcium and vitamin D intake, instead of lifting weights on machines I started doing more closed chain, ie, lunges, squats, and functional weight lifting, I now live in Colorado and am getting more sunlight than when I lived in the Midwest.

I'm just very glad that osteoporosis has been identified as a preventable disease and that our generation doesn't have to suffer the pain and disability of broken bones that the generation of women and men before us suffered.

[mimitabby]

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.

[Kathi]

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.

[mimitabby]

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.