It’s tough being a woman: Osteopenia and Osteoporosis
Posted in Human Health Care on April 18th, 2010 by Brenda Edmondson – Be the first to comment
My physician knew what to do with osteoporosis menopausal women, but not me at 45.
10 years ago I went in for a routine checkup, and asked for a fairly new test – a bone density exam. She was totally freaked out a few days later when she called me and asked me to come in and discuss my osteopenia.
I have read all the literature for the last 10 years, and the sheer volume of it can be confusing. Here are a few pearls of wisdom I have picked up over the years.
There are no symptoms in the early stages of osteopenia and osteoporosis. I found it early because I had read about bone density testing in a magazine.
Osteopenia and Osteoporosis symptoms that occur late include:
Bone pain or tenderness, fractures occurring with little or no trauma, loss of height (as much as 6 inches) over time, low back and neck pain due to fractures of the spinal bones, and a stooped posture or kyphosis, also called a “dowager’s hump”.
White and Asian women have a higher incidence, as well as women and men with low body weight. Family incidence, smoking and excessive alcohol intake also increase the risk.
I think the greatest risk is STRESS.
Stress causes soooo many health problems, and osteopenia and osteoporosis are only two of them. When my hair fell out, I started reading and discovered that stress and inflammation cause most of the major diseases we fight today.
Here is a small list:
* Hypertension
* Obesity
* Depression
* Diabetes
* Low sex drive
* Memory loss and inability to concentrate
* Heart disease
There are a lot of new osteoporosis drugs out there today, but the osteoporosis side effects can be severe. While they build new bone, the new bone is more brittle than the old bone. Better to strengthen the old bone with exercise and nutrition, but it’s your choice.
I choose the osteoporosis natural treatment route, and I can recommend some great products. Bone density testing is recommended, it lets you know where you stand. To reduce the high cortisol levels that come with stress I take Eleviv. It is an awesome product that you can read more about at the developer’s website, www.shawntalbott.com. I take Simplexity’s Osteosun, which will actually rebuild bone, and Stemplex for increasing stem cell activity and reducing inflammation. I also drink Xango juice for the xanthones, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.
To date my bone density remains the same as it did 10 years ago. With good nutrition and good natural supplementation I hope to keep the osteoporosis side effects at bay.
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