osteoporosis news

[NbyNW]

Been lurking on this thread as I'm in a risk factor group as well . . .

Oakleaf outlines a very interesting & broad ranging dilemma -- and I don't know what the answer is, but I do know this:

Bad things happen in spite of our best efforts

Maybe over time and as testing technology & knowledge improves the med. establishment will change its opinion as to who needs a test . . . .

It could happen, right?

[Grog]

I strongly encourage you all to check out Alan Cassels' web site:
http://alancassels.com/index.cfm
go into his database and search for osteoporosis.

Most interesting finds.

Cassels is a researcher at the University of Victoria in Canada and a frequent contributor to medical journals. He has published a wonderful book with Ray Moynihan called "Selling Sickness" about the marketing and branding of diseases. He addresses osteoporosis and the change in guidelines for treatment in much detail in the book, and to some degree on the web site. (Also good chapters on high blood pressure, cholesterol, and psychiatry in general... all those high-return on investment areas...)

A good source to balance some other types of information...

[newfsmith]

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.

[Crankin]

Thanks, Jean for saying that. Like you, I don't think anyone could fault me for not trying to stop my bone degeneration with natural and healthy alternatives. I've been exercising and eating well since I was 25 years old and I lost 25 pounds in order to feel fit again. My grandmother lost 3-4 inches from her real height and although she lived to 91, the quality of her life the last 15 years sucked because of a hip fracture. She almost killed herself by lighting her sleeve on fire on a gas stove, because she couldn't pick up the pan fast enough. My mom, who was extremely active for someone of her generation also had it well before she died at 67 from a totally unrelated thing. So while I could chalk my grandmother's case up to a life of inactivity, not so with my mom.
I don't like drug companies anymore than the next person, but I will not cripple myself because I refuse to try a medication. Sure, I had the GERD reaction to Fosomax and I'm getting hot flashes from Evista, long after mine had stopped. But, I'll live with it and hopefully I will see a change on my next scan. I don't feel like I'm being duped. I'll be interested to hear how you do on the Reclast.

[OakLeaf]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.

SELECTING people for testing based on their personal medical history and their family history is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of mass screening.

And then, if you choose a treatment after being FULLY informed of the risks, known harms, and the likelihood that it may OR MAY NOT help - if the companies didn't suppress any studies showing the harm or inefficacy of their products, or if you chose the treatment after those studies came to light - if you and/or your doctor carefully sifted through the available research papers and evaluated them for bias, including the bias implicit in what's even being studied - if you were able to disregard the human propensity that we ALL have to disregard sometimes huge risks when trying to avoid a known loss - then that's not being "duped" (your word, not mine, in any event).

I just started reading this book, Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman. I sure wish I'd read it two months ago. Y'know, we're all human, and to acknowledge making a decision based on emotion and innate, genetically encoded human psychology rather than reason (as I just did) is not an insult.


/back to topic: one thing that that article doesn't even address is that osteopenia isn't even a condition. All it is, is having a measured bone density one standard deviation below the mean for a 30-year-old female. BY DEFINITION, 16% of young women are "osteopenic." With the natural progression of bone loss, 50% of older women are "osteopenic." Y'know, I'm probably going to get old. I'm definitely going to die. The same is true for every single person here.

I just deleted two more paragraphs of ranting I've made my points. I never said anything insulting about the choices that ANYONE has made about her own health. I'm just urging people to MAKE an informed CHOICE.

[Crankin]

I read all of the information available when I started taking Evista. But, truthfully, the more I read ANY accompanying literature that comes with medication, the more apt I am to "developing" some of the side effects I have read about. I want to know about the bad things, but at a certain point, for me, at least, it is better to not read on. Same with looking at research on the Internet. My doctor told me about the hot flashes, but did not go into any great detail, except to answer the answer the questions I asked. She is a triathlete who I know from the gym and she basically said that given my family history and my athletic lifestyle, she would hate to see me be crippled by some of the things she has seen happen from untreated osteoporosis.
I did have my bone scan at age 47 because of my family history, but I would have had one at a later date, even if I had no family history. Same with mammograms. I had a benign cyst at age 32 and had my first mammo then, and another one 35, and then one yearly at after 40. I think this is being prudent and I don't feel that I am being coerced into it. Believe me, I am not one who thinks that the medical profession is God like, but I consider this to be preventative. At my next visit I will ask about going off of the Evista and/or how long I will take it, because I won't take it indefinitely.
On the other hand, I don't like worrying about what might happen if I have a bike crash; and given my clutzyness, that does happen once in awhile!
Oakleaf, I know you have much more of a scientific background than I do, and I respect your opinion. I just can't do that.

[michelem]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.

One thing that that article doesn't even address is that osteopenia isn't even a condition.

Well, thankfully, my FSA providers consider osteopenia to be a diagnosis worthy of reimbursing me for my calcium supplements!

Next time I'm at the MD I'm going to ask for a note saying that it is medically necessary for me to be taking Vitamin D as well, due to Vit. D deficiency. Hopefully I can get that reimbursed as well. I mean it's my money they've already taken out of my paycheck anyway . . . might as well get reimbursed since the Cal and D are prescribed by my MD.

[mimitabby]

Michelem, I get reimbursed for calcium too.

No one is suggesting what anyone else is doing is wrong. We are just talking about the roads we are taking.

My doctor is hoping that our megadoses of Vit D will help turn this around.

but yes, it's apparently natural to loose bone as you age. if we stay active, maybe we won't lose our sense of balance AND FALL DOWN so much