Bone Health
Osteoporosis and Bone Health for Life
By Dr. Alisa Cooper, D.C., C.C.N.
To understand what osteoporosis is, it is important to know what it is not. To begin with, it is not a disease that affects only women, although more women are affected than men. Actually, 50% of women will suffer an osteoporosis related fracture in their lifetime, as will 20% of all men. Osteoporosis is not a calcium deficiency disease, although calcium, magnesium and other minerals and vitamins are imperative for bone health. It is not an estrogen deficiency disease either, as the pharmaceutical companies might have you believe, although declining estrogen levels during the first few years of menopause can accelerate bone loss for a time. Clearly one thing osteoporosis is not is a simple, clear-cut or easy condition to treat.
Osteoporosis is a common and potentially debilitating disorder. It can cause painful compression fractures of the spine leading to stooped posture. It can lead to severe hip fractures that rob you of your mobility and independence later in life. And it can cause significant psychological hardship. Osteoporosis costs us not only as individuals, but as a nation too; upwards of 18 billion per year, or $40,000 per hip fracture.
Osteoporosis is more complicated than most people realize. It is tied in with genetics, diet, nutritional status, lifestyle, the digestive system, the immune system, the amount of inflammation in the body and the pH of the blood!
Our bones are not dry and stagnant structures. They are alive, dynamic and metabolically active! For instance, our bones actually secrete a hormone that influences how food will ultimately be broken down and used for energy! Another little known fact is that certain bone cells are derived from the same lineage as the white blood cells, or soldiers of the immune system. That makes osteoporosis, in part, an immune system disorder. That is why it is so important to take very good care of yourself, for what affects your immune system will certainly affect your bones.
Just like everything else in the body, bone health is a matter of balance: the intricate balance between two different bone cell types: those that form new bone, and those that break it down. This constant remodeling of bone is what keeps them healthy and strong. Just as debris must be cleared away from a construction site, old, damaged bone cells must be cleared away to make room for new ones. When the immune system is compromised or even over-sensitized, however, we end up breaking down more bone than we should, and that leads to osteoporosis.
Let’s follow the line of reasoning that osteoporosis is in large part, an immune system disorder. And let’s take it at face value that 70% of your immune system cells are located in your gut, which they are. Then it suddenly makes tremendous sense to have your digestive system working at its best. Now that might mean getting rid of bad bacteria and re-populating the gut with beneficial bacteria. It might also mean taking digestive enzymes to ensure food is adequately broken down and absorbed. It might mean avoiding gluten-containing foods that can irritate and inflame the intestines. Internal inflammation, along with an acidic blood pH, can set off reactions in the body that end up over-stimulating the cells that break down bone. These over-stimulated cells, like sharp-toothed piranha, dig very deep pits that weaken the bone and make them susceptible to fracture. That is just the tip of the osteoporosis iceberg, and we haven’t even mentioned nutrition yet!
Calcium, magnesium, Vit D, Vit K, and several other vitamins and minerals are imperative for bone health. There are intricate hormonal balancing acts that go on behind the scenes to orchestrate the delivery and function of these nutrients. I hope you are beginning to see we must go well beyond the basic instructions to “get enough calcium” in order to prevent and treat osteoporosis. We must take a whole-body-approach to bone health.
We need a diet that consists of plentiful fruits and vegetables to supply these vital nutrients; the same healthy diet that will keep our blood slightly alkaline. When our blood is too acidic, calcium is readily leached from the bones in an effort to buffer that acid overload. Bones deficient in calcium are simply more likely to fracture.
Not only must we maintain the proper pH of the blood, we must eat calcium rich foods, and find a way to readily transport that calcium into the bone in a usable form. One innovation that holds tremendous promise is a product called OsteoDenx. It contains lactoferrin, a natural molecule that acts as a transporter of calcium, thereby increasing bone density.
We must also eat adequate protein. Protein deficiency causes the muscles to become weak and waste away. While muscles normally weaken with age, insufficient protein intake further complicates the problem. Without strong muscles, the bones have no “motivation” to stay strong, so to speak, as they literally have nothing to support. For this reason, we have to exercise moderately and consistently, hopefully at something we enjoy, throughout our entire lives. Not only does exercise strengthen the muscles, but performed against the force of gravity, it puts healthy stress on the skeletal system leading to new bone formation.
Since our number one goal with osteoporosis is to prevent fractures, anything that mineralizes the bones and makes them strong is like putting money in a “bone bank account.” The more deposits you make into your bone bank account, the more you will have on reserve in times of stress, accident, or illness. None of these preventative measures is a guarantee, but they will go far in providing a strong safety net.
In some cases, medication may be necessary to treat severe osteoporosis, but in many cases, very low dose bio-identical estrogen given for the first few years of menopause may help those at high risk. Bio-identical progesterone, available in a cream, has been shown to actually create new bone cells, and may play a significant role in the treatment, and reversal, of osteoporosis at any age. Also, as previously mentioned, it is crucial to keep inflammation at bay. Inflammation, the “silent killer” long implicated in heart disease, is now known to play a role in osteoporosis.
Lastly, we need to modify our thinking about genetics. We are not necessarily doomed to the same maladies as other family members. Science has shown that our genes are not “formed in stone,” but are actually more plastic and malleable. For instance, they interact with our diet, the environment, and even our very thoughts. Just because you have a gene for something does not mean that gene will be switched on. We can change, or at least influence, the expression of our genes! Let that fact alone motivate you to make the necessary dietary and lifestyle changes that will keep your bones healthy.
In conclusion, it requires a comprehensive, integrated approach to tackle a disorder as complex and multifaceted as osteoporosis. Cultivating a healthy body, diet and lifestyle can play a significant role in the treatment and prevention of this common condition. You can start today to have better bones for life!
U.S. warns of severe pain with osteoporosis drugs
Bone Health
