• But what is “normal” bone density?
• Why are bisphosphonate drugs prescribed for osteopenia?
• How can you prevent osteopenia from becoming osteoporosis?

Every body is different, so what is normal for you may not be normal for me.

Just a couple decades ago there was no such “disease” as osteopenia. The word had not yet been coined.  Of course, that was before the drugs for osteoporosis had been developed.  Guess who invented that diagnosis?  Normal is thought of as what your bone density was at age thirty.  But if you don’t have a record of that,  the next best number is an educated guess.

And as Fosamax and the other bisphonsphonate medications were approved only for osteoporosis, why would your doctor  prescribe it for osteopenia?

The only possible explanation is that your doctor believes the advertising that the pharmaceutical companies sponsor and that he doesn’t have time to study the research for himself?  Did you know that after a drug is approved for one illness, the doctor has the liberty to use it for other conditions? This is very scary when the drug has so many serious side effects.
Be sure to  send for my fre*e report on the dangers of  bone density drugs.

Bone density drugs do nothing to strengthen bones.   But you can prevent osteopenia from becoming osteoporosis naturally. In fact, you can reverse your osteopenia and have strong bones all your life.

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Osteopenia Drugs

According to a March ABC News report, 66 year old retiree, Jeanette McLearen of Warren, Michigan was prescribed hormone replacement therapy to reduce her risk of heart disease.  But after 15 years of taking that drug, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In 2002, Jeanette learned that HRT actually increased the risk not only of heart disease, but also of breast cancer. That was a very difficult time for her.

After that experience, Jeanette used Fosamax, for her osteopenia, for seven years before she recently learned that bisphosphonates may actually weaken bones instead of making them stronger.

Jeanette is understandably “confused”. She said her doctor wants her to take another bone drug by injection, but she is afraid that these very drugs that she thought were helping her may have made her bones weaker than they were before she took them. She is terrified of having a bone fracture.

Do you feel like Jeanette? It is definitely not necessary for most people to take bisphosphonates or any other drug to have healthy, strong bones. It is always wise to pursue the natural methods before using drugs for any condition, unless it is an unusually severe emergency case.

I am very thankful that I was able to strengthen my own weak bones without any drugs after 2 hip fractures.

One concern many have these days is that the FDA seemingly responds to pressure from the pharmaceutical companies to approve new drugs quickly before they have been thoroughly tested for long term use.

A conscientious doctor may sincerely want to help his patients, but he doesn’t have time to do the research himself, so depends upon the company literature to tell the use of the drugs, when often the literature may be slanted in favor of the drug, without any emphasis upon the side effects or complications.

For McLearen doctors have twice prescribed medications with great certainty only to second-guess the outcomes. Is it any wonder she is confused?

Just this past week, after NBC news investigated and reported their findings concerning the bone drug (Fosamax), the Food and Drug Administration announced that it will look into whether or not a link exists between the bisphosphonate drugs and a strange type of leg fracture.

In many cases, women who have taken the drug for long periods of time had their femur bones snap while doing little more than just taking a walk.

Dr. Kenneth Egol, professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center stated. “We are seeing people just walking, walking down the steps, or patients who are doing low energy exercise have their femur snap. He said this is very unusual as the femur in one of he strongest bones in the entire body.

I am anxious for the FDA to recognize this problem that has already caused many women a great deal of pain. And I hope this article will serve as a warning to some who have not been aware of this news.

Your comments and questions are very welcome here…

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Muryal_Braun

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Disclaimer:  The FDA has not evaluated these statements. The contents of this post are not to be considered medical advice and are for educational purposes only.  If you are experiencing health challenges, always consult your doctor for medical advice and follow it even if it contradicts the contents of this post.

Also, if you purchase my ebook, I will be compensated.

I knew of her former problems with nausea, irritation of the esophagus and heartburn  so she understandably had the following  questions:

• Does Prolia increase bone strength?
• Does Prolia prevent fractures?
• Does Prolia cause necrosis of the jaw?

So what about this new osteoporosis medication.  If you are reading this article, you are probably wondering like Jane-Does Prolia work?

An article in the LA Times- June 14, 2010 gave some pros and cons of the new drug Prolia that I will share here.

Dr. Aurelia Nattiv, who directs the UCLA Osteoporosis Center, says that the new drug has a …completely different mechanism and is a completely different chemical compound…than the bisphosphonates.

Basically, Prolia works in a way very similar to the bisphosphonates in preventing the natural process of breakdown of old bone tissue.  For that reason, it cannot be said that it increases bone strength, even though it appears to increase the bone thickness.  Therefore,  rather than increasing bone strength, the bones will probably become more brittle.   However,  in some of the testing, it appeared to help the bones of the spine.

And if it does not increase bone strength, Prolia will not prevent fractures any better than the bisphosphonates (Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva or Reclast).

How about the death of the jawbone? Researchers from Harvard and Mayo Clinic have concluded that the drug has been approved so recently that we will just have to wait and see what the long term results will be concerning this possibility.

Dr.Nattiv (who has no current financial ties to companies making osteoporosis drugs) continues by warning that “the drug’s newness means that the full suite and frequency of serious side effects is yet to be determined.”

From all the research I have studied on the subject, none of the choices of medications work as well for reversing osteoporosis or osteopenia, as natural dietary changes  and supplements.  Please be careful of any drugs you take.  So far the osteoporosis medications have had a poor track record.

For Your Abundant Health,

Muryal

Amgen Drug Approved To Fight Osteoporosis | Health Medical Supplies

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the sale of Amgen’s osteoporosis drug Prolia to help prevent fractures in postmenopausal women. Last week,

Publish Date: 06/15/2010 8:28

http://www.healthmedicalsupplies.org/uncategorized/amgen-drug-approved-to-fight-osteoporosis

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor.  I am a retired nurse and nutritional researcher.  The FDA has not evaluated these statements. The contents of this post are not to be considered medical advice and are for educational purposes only.  If you are experiencing health challenges, always consult your doctor for medical advice and follow it even if it contradicts the contents of this post.

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Osteopenia and Osteoporosis Drugs

Finally research is confirming that although the biophosphonates (Fosamax, Actonel, Bonita, etc.) seem to improve the quantity of  your bone, it is at the expense of the quality of your bone.

Scientists are finding that these drugs that are being used to treat osteoporosis and osteopenia actually cause the bones to break easier if used over a period of time.  This is causing researchers to question if it is wise to get less quality for more quantity.

After four years of use and shorter periods for some, the bones are demonstrating that the drugs cause a susceptibility to unusual fractures, not found in patients treated with only natural methods.   They are especially finding strange breaks in the thigh  bone, besides necrosis (death) of the jaw bone.

This is due to the interference of the remodeling process that naturally ocurs in your bones.   Our Creator designed a system in which new bone tissue replaces old bone tissue continually. The drugs prevent the old tissue from being replaced by new tissue.  Instead the old tissue remains in your bones.   It is a nobrainer to realize that the resulting bones will not be as strong as they would be with healthy new tissue replacing the old.

Perhaps this discovery was in part responsible for the news,  that the Warner Chilcott Company that bought the Proctor and Gamble’s prescription drug business last summer for $3.1 billion ,announced last month that it is closing its facility in Mason, Ohio.   The layoff of 163 employees will be completed by August 31st.   That business was involved in producing Actonel and other prescription drugs.

Those of us who have been aware of the dangers of these drugs for some time, are hoping the drug will not be manufactured in other locations, to replace this closing and will therefore be prescribed less  often.

We can only hope that more of you will take advantage of the natural remedies to prevent and reverse osteopenia and osteoporosis.  By guarding your diet and upping your vitamins and minerals, you can improve both the quality and the quantity of your bones.

Cross Section Through Head of Femur

Do you know why a DEXA Scan is not reliable in testing for osteopenia?

I have often been asked if I get bone density scans.

My answer is always that a DEXA bone density scan for osteopenia is not reliable, so I see no point in getting one.

In fact, you may be worried that you are in serious trouble with weak and less than normal bones, when your test is not at all trustworthy.

There are several problems with DEXA scans.  A few of them are:

1. You usually don’t learn anything about the condition of your bones  until        1 or 2 years after the first  scan

2. The scan may be referencing the wrong spot for  the second scan

3. Looking at a picture does not tell you what is happening inside the bone.

4. The test scans a spot now and then takes another scan at a later date to compare with the first one to see if there is any change.  During that interval you just have to wait for the report

5. It is difficult to aim the scanner to the exact same spot that was scanned the first time, so it may not even be a true comparison.

Most researchers believe that women especially have the best bone density at 30 years of age, before the bones begin to deteriorate.

It is believed that this is true because after menopause the decrease in the amount of hormones has a direct effect upon the bones.

Another problem with the DEXA test is that the second picture must be taken from the exact same spot and angle –very hard to do when the pictures are taken 2 years apart.

The most important problem is that in the scan results, your doctor can only see how thick the bone looks.  But this never tells the inner strength of the bone.

Your bone tissue is constantly changing like any other living tissues in your body. A remodeling process causes the bone to slough off the  old tissue and rebuild it with new tissue.

If your bone is unhealthy or you have been taking certain meds, the bone may not be getting rid of the old tissue.  So it may
look thicker while it is actually just storing the old calcium and becoming more brittle every day.

There is now a much more reliable test called Pyrilinks-D. This test tells exactly what is happening inside your bone. When your bone breaks down, it produces Dpd in your urine. The amount of Dpd in the urine tells if your bone is rebuilding as fast as it is breaking down or if the rebuilding is slower.

For the Pyrilinks-D test, you use strips with chemicals on them that react with your urine, similar to the strips you may have used to test urine for the Ph-alkaline- acid testing.  There are several labs now that offer this test, so I urge you to ask your doctor about this, rather than allow the DEXA scan.

You can repeat the Pyrilinks-D test as often as you wish to monitor your progress in eliminating osteopenia.

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Disclaimer:  The FDA has not evaluated these statements. The contents of this post are not to be considered medical advice and are for educational purposes only.  If you are experiencing health challenges, always consult your doctor for medical advice and follow it even if it contradicts the contents of this post.