My Osteoporosis Journey
My mother became interested in nutrition when I was a teenager. She read some Adele Davis books and started changing our diet, which up to that point had been pretty much the standard Canadian diet. It was high in sugar and starches, including some processed foods, though we did have mostly home cooked meals and homemade lunches rather than fast food.
I learned a lot about nutrition over years, as the trend towards health alternatives brought more and more health books onto the market and into our local libraries. I was careful with my food choices, had healthy pregnancies and my children were “deprived” of many sweet treats other children indulged in. As a result they had very few colds or flus growing up.
Other than prenatal and postnatal care, I rarely saw a doctor. In fact, I didn’t have health insurance for years, after moving to the US in 2000. I figured I could keep myself healthy with diet and published numerous articles on nutrition-related subjects. When I turned 65, I was encouraged to do Medicare’s yearly visits, so I signed up with a medical practice and went for checkups.
It took my doctors years to convince me to go for a bone density scan. I was convinced that my healthy lifestyle kept me safe from things like Osteoporosis. WRONG! Turns out my bones had been losing density for years and I didn’t know it.
My osteoporosis diagnosis was a huge wake up call. Much to my surprise, in spite of all my attention to diet, I wasn’t immune to the “conditions of aging”. It forced me to take a long hard look at what brought me to the diagnosis, and what I could do to improve, going forward.
Looking back, it was obvious how I got there. I had all the risk factors…thin, small boned, fairly sedentary, as I’d always choose reading a book over getting out and exercising. I’d been ignoring articles I came across on the importance of physical exertion, convincing myself that occasional walking along with household chores was enough to keep me healthy.
Searching for answers
The conventional approach to osteoporosis is a prescription for pharmaceuticals like bisphosphonates. Here are some examples:
- Alendronate (Fosamax®).
- Risedronate (Actonel®).
- Ibandronate (Boniva®).
- Pamidronate (Aredia®).
- Zoledronic acid (Reclast®, Zometa®).
They work by slowing down bone reabsorption. They also have side effects like gastrointestinal issues, bone, joint and muscle pain. Most importantly, although they do increase bone density, they also increase bone brittleness, so the possibility of fracture may actually increase.
I chose not to take any of the possible pharmaceuticals, and started investigating alternative approaches. There are many YouTube videos on non-drug ways to improve bone health, using nutrition, exercise, bio identical hormone therapy and various ways of combining them. I started following some alternative practitioners and built a program to increase my bone health. I’m happy to report that my bone density is improving and as a side benefit, I’m also improving my balance and muscle strength…all important for preventing falls as we age.
In future articles I will go into the specifics of my bone health program.