Sunday, February 28, 2010

Do Bisphosphonates REALLY Help Bones?

Almost couple of years ago, I was diagnosed as being in the stages of Osteopenia and Osteoporosis. I had just turned 40. Of course, my doctor suggested I immediately begin taking some type of Bisphosphonate like Boniva. I chose to not follow that route.

First of all, I wanted to do my own research of exactly how these drugs work. I checked out a bunch of books from the library on Osteoporosis and read articles on the internet, especially from some of my more favorite natural healthcare sites. I definitely avoided any websites that were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.

Second of all, I had been told that Bisphosphonates are hard on the digestive system. I really did not want to aggravate my already sensitive system any further.

What I discovered in my research was that while Bisphosphonates do increase bone density, it is not a healthy increase. Bisphosphonates build up the bones with OLD bone.

Our bones are constantly renewing themselves. Those drugs prevent the old bone from being removed, hence increasing bone density, but doing so with old, weak bone. And in the long run, most probably leading to a higher incidence of fractures and creating bones that have great difficulty healing in the event of such a fracture.

The Health Watcher's News has recently published a new article giving further light on the truth of Bisphosphonates. Read the article called "Bisphosphonates: Bone Strengtheners or Bone Hardeners" and inform yourself!

2 comments:

  1. I am deeply into osteopenia and bone health issues and have the terms on google alerts. Read your blog when it popped up and just had to comment... From my research, osteopenia is technically not a disease and may not even mean anything is wrong. Read this recent report from NPR: How A Bone Disease Grew To Fit The Prescription http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121609815 and also read this article from Susan Brown at Better Bones (a great site that focuses on acid/alkaline balance):What a diagnosis of osteopenia means for you http://www.betterbones.com/osteoporosis/aboutosteopenia.aspx

    Good luck!

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  2. Jacqueline, Thank you so much for the extra info. I really appreciate it. I'll definitely check it out.

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