Jan
10
Kudos to NPR for this must read report! Calling it a biography of a disease, How a Bone Disease Grew to Fit a Prescription tells the tale of how osteoporosis, systematically assisted by drug makers, morphed into a major public health threat affecting 55% of Americans over age 50. It’s an enlightening and eye-popping account of how drug makers strategically work behind the scenes to create a market for their drugs. Extensive interviews recreate the systematic roll out of plans to increase the number of osteoporosis and osteopenia diagnoses by investing in diagnostic equipment and creating distribution networks and education campaigns, to essential condition perceptions of health professionals and the public alike about the dangers of low bone density – and to handily supply a remedy. It’s of special interest to us as a prequel to our report on the The Selling of Osteoporosis, that describes how manufacturers manipulate language to magnify the dangers – and fears – of osteoporosis. We tracked clinical trial data to show how marketing materials massage and blur the data, and magnify risks, to play on fears of bone fracture in midlife women.
It perhaps goes without saying that there was no control group in clinical trials of women on diets that have been shown in related studies to maintain and even build bone cells.
Ever since posting the FDA alert on the risks of biophosphonate drugs for osteoporosis and osteopenia, we’ve received an education in just how much concern, confusion and misinformation there is out there about bone health. The ongoing traffic to that post, to the one on the latest nutritional research on bones, calcium, and a pH imbalanced diet, and studies using yoga to prevent osteoporosis, has been astonishing.
One takeaway for us has been a glimpse into how effective advertising by special interests has been, from the dairy industry to pharmaceuticals. It’s surprised us because bone health seems pretty straightforward to us as health professionals; there are minimal known hormone or bodymind interactions to untangle, or disputes about how exercise is absolutely non-negotiable. There is agreement on the role of sunlight in its synthesis of vitamin D. There are disagreements about the overwhelming importance of calcium, compared to the other 24 known nutrients that are co-factors in making calcium effective in creating new bone cells, and also the best – i.e. most bio-available, or absorbable, sources of calcium.
As we become increasingly aware of both how effective drug makers’ strategies have been – and how their unraveling – see the pending lawsuits – is sending women who did “all the right things” to take charge of their own health and to get informed in how to protect their bone health. We’ve continued to add building bone health resources to our E-store, including the convenient at-home NTx Bone Loss Analysis Test Kit that indicates your rate of bone breakdown to assess your risk of osteoporosis, and an at-home Vitamin D testing kit. We also have two books on acid-alkaline diet programs with pH strips, and Ipraflavone, a balanced bone supplement providing quality sources of calcium and vitamin D, as well as the complete range of cofactors needed to build bone mass. Miriam Nelson’s Strong Women Stay Young, is a good resource for putting together your balanced exercise program, and a Restorative Exercise for Strong Bones Kit with a 40 minute program that targets sites at risk for bone loss: hips, wrists, vertebrae, and ribs, with exercises designed to increase bone loading. And more.
Drug makers are right about one thing: paying attention to bone health as we age is important! But there are a vast number of everyday healthy practices that can help you to optimize and support your body’s natural mechanisms, so that they can continue to preserve and grow your bones the way they always have.
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To learn more about the health claims and hidden risks of biphosphonates, sign up for our free special report, The Selling of Osteoporosis.
To learn about a drug-free and natural way to prevent – or even reverse – osteoporosis and osteopenia without side effects, master the essentials in our Women Doing It For Ourselves – How to Build Bone Health for Lifelong Vitality, with Integrated Health Practitioner, and nutritionist Dr. Judith Valentine, Ph.D.
If you are a fan of soft drinks, find out how they may be affecting your bones here, in Soft Drinks: America’s Other Drinking Problem.
Click here for our complete list of Bone Health resources.
For the latest research on calcium, HRT and building bone health through diet, click here.
To read about the importance of Vitamin D in women’s health at midlife, and in bone health, click here.
Here is the latest news on the findings of ‘brittle bones’ and the increased risk of spontaneous femur fractures from use of biphosphonate drugs in some women.
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