Osteoporosis 14 Drugs – Friend or Foe?

So far we’ve covered osteoporosis from 13 different aspects and there’s still so much more wonderful information to glean.

A person who has experienced a problem and developed a passion to find answers for it often becomes a go-to expert on the subject.

Such is the case for Vivian Goldschmidt. Surprised to discover that she had osteoporosis at age 50, she decided to go beyond the conventional treatments for it. That started her quest and research into natural healing for osteoporosis.

You really need to meet her to glean her expertise.

Meet Vivian

Here’s one of the big reasons that you need to meet Vivian:

As per her web site she states that her Save Our Bones Treatment program can take you through a bone building program without drugs in one year or less!

She’s also written a lot of excellent articles about the various drugs prescribed in an attempt to reverse osteoporosis. So, I’m not going to write anything in depth about osteoporosis drugs in this series of articles. Check Vivian’s Save Our Bones web site for more information. Click on the Osteoporosis Guide button and get her Natural Bone Building Handbook at no charge. It has a lot of great information.

So here’s a very brief over view of the drugs used for osteoporosis. The evidence that I’ve read indicates that they might make your bones look stronger on bone density tests but they don’t really strengthen your bones.

That’s because they mess up the normal remodeling process that should go on in your bones all of the time. The osteoclasts break down bone so new bone can be deposited by the osteoblast cells.

But scientists developing drugs for osteoporosis decided to develop drugs that stopped the osteoclasts from breaking down the bone. At first pass that may seem like a good idea. But put into practice it messes up the normal metabolism of the bone producing brittle bones that may break even easier.

Basically the bisphosphonates age the bone faster by leaving old bone in place which become rigid and less able to flex if traumatized.

That’s the way the bisphosphonate drugs and Prolia work. The bisphosphonates include the most popular of the osteoporosis drugs; Actonel, Boniva and Fosamax, the ones you hear famous people rave about on the TV ads.

But did you notice the long list of possible side effects the advertisers have to disclose in the ads? When I first started hearing drug ads I honestly wondered if they were advertising for or against that drug.

About ¾ of people taking the bisphosphonates stop taking them in the first year because of the rebellion to them in the gastrointestinal tract manifested by heartburn, ulcers and other unhappy GI symptoms.

Surprise, surprise. The body rejects noxious chemicals. The GI tract simply cannot digest these bisphosphonate chemicals found in laundry detergents and toilet bowl cleaners.

And then there’s Prolia. It’s a human antibody that interferes with the action of the osteoclasts. With this drug they’re not only messing up the normal bone metabolism but also the immune system. Since it’s an injection given once every 6 months a person is stuck with the most common side effects for a long time if they manifest. These side effects include: general musculoskeletal pain, back pain, arm and leg aches, bladder infection, elevated cholesterol, and pancreatitis.

Sure doesn’t sound like any fun to me.

You can check out the other osteoporosis drugs at Save Our Bones.

Of course, your decision to take osteoporosis drugs remains between you and your physician.

My main message to you:

1. Make lifestyle changes that are good for your bones and the rest of your body first. Refuse to just treat the symptoms, but rather determine the underlying causes of the osteoporosis problem and correct those. Re-read the articles in this osteoporosis series as a starting point to making lifestyle changes to correct your loss of bone mass.

1. Review very carefully how these drugs work so you can make a wise informed decision with your health care provider should you decide to take a drug.

Vivian can give you great assistance on your path to healthy bones.

Save Our Bones

Blessings,

Dr. Jo