Book Review The Bone Health Revolution
The bone health revolution
by Vivian Goldschmidt
Recently, my good friend Chris called to tell me that her mother’s latest bone scan revealed quite a bit of bone loss since her last test and that the doctor wanted to prescribe her osteoporosis medication.
This made Chris uncomfortable and he called to ask me what, if anything, I knew about these medications, their effectiveness, side effects, and possible alternatives. My limited research after my own diagnosis of osteopenia a few years ago, a non-disease created to sell more drugs, I am convinced, led me to believe that drugs were not a good option and that there was a lot to be done. first to strengthen bones naturally.
I fumbled for some of what I knew, but told Chris I’d get back to her after I updated and put my research together. In the meantime, she found this month’s book.
Author Vivian Goldschmidt has written a book she wishes she had written.
Chris was right, the book is a gold mine of the latest information on osteoporosis, osteopenia, and the drugs Big Pharma wants us to take to curb this “disease.” Dirty Little Secret: Osteoporosis isn’t a disease at all, just a function of aging. It’s not inevitable, and you don’t need dangerous drugs to prevent, reverse, or slow it down. It can be slowed and reversed with diet, supplements, and exercise.
Did you know that the average our middle-aged bones are compared against for their “health” is women ages 20-29? As Vivian asked, “Are women expected to keep their bone density unchanged as they age?” How can we expect to have a “normal” bone density score compared to women who are at their peak bone health?
Not to mention that bone density, the characteristic of our bones being tested, is not the best indicator of healthy bones, bone flexibility and strength are.
Bone loss associated with aging is normal, bone strength and resilience is what we need to achieve.
Here are some points that Vivian covers in detail in her book:
# Osteoporosis is not a disease but actually the body trying to correct an imbalance. And there is one simple thing you can do to correct this imbalance.
# Osteoporosis is not inevitable. Anyone can easily prevent and reverse it without taking medication. In fact, a 2006 report from the Mayo Clinic says that more than 37% of women over the age of 50 do not meet the true criteria for osteoporosis and are misdiagnosed. You are one of them?
# The active ingredient in prescription osteoporosis medications (Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva) is a bisphosphonate. That’s just a fancy name for a common ingredient used in laundry detergents, fertilizers, and industrial lubricants. Would you put them on your body?
This is not scare-mongering nor is it an anti-pharmaceutical rant. It is exhaustive research presented in the language of a layman. Vivian began this search when she was diagnosed with osteoporosis a few years ago and her doctor gave her Fosamax. Her scientific background (she has a degree in nutrition from New York University) and her scientific curiosity led her to investigate this supposed disease and the “cures” that many well-meaning doctors generously offer.
What she found was shocking, and she felt she had to write about it and help other women avoid the life-threatening, at least quality-of-life, side effects of Big Pharma’s response to this “problem.”
“According to a recent Consumer Affairs article (February 2007), Merck, the maker of Fosamax, has set aside $48 million to establish a defense fund for lawsuits related to the debilitating side effects of Fosamax. Does Merck know anything that the public not in general?
Warning: Vivian doesn’t say that drugs like Fosamax, Actonel, and Boniva don’t make your bones strong. They do; it is its ingredients, its side effects and what we do not know that encourages us to look for alternatives. And what we don’t yet know is whether the action of these bone-building drugs will actually increase bone density but limit or prevent the formation of new bone, which is more flexible and therefore less prone to fractures than bone-building drugs. old brittle bones.
If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, I recommend you buy the book and try natural alternatives before a drug protocol. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
