- A NEW DISEASE...A NEW MARKETING
OPPORTUNITY
-
- Osteoporosis is big news-and big business-these
days. As a disease, it emerged out of obscurity only two decades ago to
become a concern for women throughout the industrialised world. Advertising
campaigns in the media and fact sheets in doctors' waiting rooms and pharmacies
continually warm women of the dangers of disappearing bone mass. The marketing
hype announces that one woman in two over the age of 60 is likely to crumble
from an osteoporotic fracture (yet one man in three will also get osteoporosis);
that the incidence of hip fracture exceeds that of cancer of the breast,
cervix and uterus combined; and that 16 per cent of patients suffering
hip fractures will die within six months while 50 per cent will require
long-term nursing care.1
-
- The statistics also say that in the United
States over 20 million people have osteoporosis and approximately 1.3 million
people each year will suffer a bone fracture as a result of osteoporosis.
In 1993, the US incurred an estimated loss of $10 billion US due to lost
productivity and health care costs related to osteoporosis.' However, it's
important to put these statistics into perspective. While it is true that
death occurs in men and women who have hip fractures, these people are
usually very elderly and frail. People who die from hip fractures are
not only the most frail but are also ailing from other causes. Women are
constantly bombarded with the message that the war on bone loss must include
calcium supplements and a daily consumption of calcium-rich foods, primarily
dairy products. Doctors strongly recommend long-term use of (synthetic)
oestrogen to the postmenopausal woman, and, if additional help is required,
suggest the use of bone-building drugs like Fosamax. So, armed with this
powerful arsenal, a woman is assured that she will walk tall and fracture-free
through the latter part of her life. Unfortunately, this is far from the
truth.
-
- THE OSTEOPOROSIS INDUSTRY:
AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE
-
- Osteoporosis has spawned a phenomenal
growth industry. The sale of just one oestrogen drug, Premarin, grossed
$940 million US worldwide in 1996.1 The US dairy industry is thriving with
its annual $20 billion US of revenue.4 And sale of calcium supplements
has spiralled upwards into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
-
- The osteoporosis industry has not only
created a huge market for its wares; it has also been specifically designed
to target women. Obviously, the fear-mongering advertising campaign about
osteoporosis as a 'silent thief, stalking women's bones, has paid off.
Unfortunately, unsuspecting women are unaware they are really being stalked
by an unholy alliance of the pharmaceutical companies, the medical profession
and dairy in try who have orchestrated one of the most successful and well-planned
marketing manoeuvres in history.
-
- By distorting the facts, by manipulating
the statistics and by withholding scientific research in the pursuit of
profits, this powerful alliance has once again jeopardised lives by exposing
women to an increased incidence of such illnesses as breast and ovarian
cancer, strokes, liver and gall bladder disease, diabetes, heart disease,
allergies, kidney stones and arthritis.
-
- THE ART OF MANIPULATING PERCEPTIONS
-
- Something had to be done to salvage such
a lucrative market. Since unopposed oestrogen was deemed as the cause
of endometrial cancer, the drug companies, acknowledging their misjudgement
on prescribing unopposed oestrogen to women with intact uteri, attempted
to rectify their fiasco by adding a synthetic progesterone, progestin.
It was argued that progestin would protect the uterus from oestrogen's
proliferative effects (as is done in nature), although no long-term studies
were conducted to prove the safety of combining progestin and oestrogen.
Thus, hormone replacement therapy (HRT)-oestrogen therapy repackaged made
its debut. However, women were seriously starting to question the use
of synthetic hormones, so the drug companies had to find a compelling reason
to lure them back on to hormones. Osteoporosis, a disease that 77 per
cent of women at that time had never even heard of, was waiting in the
wings. As Sandra Coney points out: "In the interests of rehabilitating
HRT, womenhave been subjected to 'a carefully orchestrated campaign' to
advocate oestrogen as a prevention for osteoporosis.""
-
-
-
- THE MYTHICAL CAUSES OF OSTEOPOROSIS
-
- There are many cultures in the world
where the postmenopausal woman are fit, active and healthy until the end
of her life. It is equally true that the women in these cultures do not
suffer from osteoporosis. If menopause itself were indeed one of the causes
of osteoporosis, all women throughout the world would be handicapped with
fractures. This is clearly not the case.
-
- The Maya women live for 30 years after
menopause but they don't get osteoporosis, they don't lose height, they
don't develop dowager hump and they don't get fractures. A research team
analysed their hormone levels and bone density and found that their oestrogen
levels were no higher than those of white American women-in some cases
they were even lower. Bone density tests showed that bone loss occurred
in these women at the same rate as their US counterparts."
-
- It used to be thought that all women
have a considerable decrease in bone from lower oestrogen levels at menopause,
thus oestrogen deficiency was said to be the cause of osteoporosis. Continuing
research has disproved this idea. Studies following individual women's
bone density over time have shown that although some women lose a lot of
bone with menopause, others lose comparatively little; also, that some
loss starts earlier." One study using urine tests to measure calcium
loss found that some women are 'fast losers' and others are naturally 'normal
losers'.
-
- If osteoporosis is due to oestrogen deficiency,
we would expect to find lower oestrogen levels in women with osteoporosis
than in women without the disorder. However, studies have shown that sex
hormone levels were found to be similar in postmenopausal women both with
and without osteoporosis." Dr Susan Brown comments: "Even in
the United States, where osteoporosis is common, many older women remain
free from the disorder. In addition, the higher male and lower female
osteoporosis rates found in some cultures do not support the notion that
excessive bone loss is due to declining ovarian oestrogen production."
-
- And what about dairy foods for bones?
Dr Michael Colgan, a well-known researcher in nutrition, an author and
the founder of the Colgan Institute in the US, has said: "The medical
advice to drink milk to prevent osteoporosis is self-serving poppycock."
After all we've been indoctrinated with, it's a shocking revelation to
discover that dairy products contribute to bone loss. The countries that
consume the highest amounts of dairy products also have the highest rates
of osteoporosis; the non-dairy-consuming countries have the lowest osteoporosis
rates.
-
- In the body's wisdom, the highest priority
is to maintain the proper acid/alkali balance in the blood. A high protein
diet of meat and dairy products poses a great osteoporosis risk because
it makes the blood highly acidic. Calcium must then be extracted from
the bones in order to restore proper balance. Since calcium in the blood
is used by every cell in the body to maintain its integrity, the body will
sacrifice calcium in the bone to maintain homeostasis in the blood.
-
- THE BONE-BUILDING DRUGS SCAM
-
- The drug companies boast one other weapon
in their anti-osteoporosis arsenal: medication that promises to halt bone
loss. One of the drugs in favour is Fosamax, the only non-hormonal drug
approved by the US FDA to treat osteoporosis. Studies of this drug were
cleverly stopped after four to six years. This is just the point at which
the fracture rate for women taking similar drugs began to rise. So, although
Fosamax will superficially appear to increase bone density, in reality
it decreases bone strength. Fosamax is a metabolic poison and will actually
kill osteoclast cells which are required to maintain dynamic bone equilibrium."
In addition, Fosamax can cause severe and permanent damage to the oesophagus
and stomach. It is also hard on the kidneys and can cause diarrhoea, flatulence,
rashes, headaches and muscular pain. Rats given high doses developed thyroid
and adrenal turnouts. Fosamax also causes deficiencies of calcium, magnesium
and vitamin D, all essential for the bone-building process."
-
-
- BUILDING HEALTHY BONES
-
- It is clear that the osteoporosis treatments
doctors most often recommend to women-HRT, calcium supplements, dairy products
and drugs-have certainly benefited the medical establishment and drug companies
most of all. The real long-term benefit to women is minimal at best, and
life-threatening at worst.
-
- Fortunately,there are other options that
not only can prevent further deterioration of bone density and poor bone
repair but can actually increase bone mass in women of all ages. According
to Dr Susan Brown, the six intervention areas that form the strongest,
surest program for building and repairing bone include: maximising nutrient
intake, building digestive strength, mirlimising anti-nutritive intake,
exercising (especially with weights), developing an alkaline diet and promoting
endocrine vitality. She believes that "no matter where you are on
the bone health continuum, no matter what your lifestyle has been, it is
never too late to begin rebuilding healthy bones" .41
-
- Some of the leading lights in safely
preventing, halting and restoring bone mass include supplementation with
natural progesterone, hydroxyapaptite, calcium citrate, or Chinese herbal
formulas. When it comes to ensuring healthy bones, it's important to remember
it's not only about what one puts in the body but also what one doesn't.
-
- More and more studies are validating
the extremely beneficial effects of a regular weight-bearing exercise program
in increasing bone density in postmenopausal women. A woman's lifelong
tendency to diet has been an unrecognised cause of bone loss. At least
seven well-controlled studies have shown that when a woman diets and loses
weight, she also loses bone. A recent study found that in less than 22
months, women who exercised three times a week increased their bone density
by 5.2 per cent, while sedentary women actually lost 1.2 per cent.41 Effective
strength-training includes such exercise as walking uphill, bicycling in
low gear, climbing steps and training with weights.
-
- Osteoporosis is not an ageing disease
or an oestrogen or calcium deficiency but a degenerative disease of Western
culture. We have brought it upon ourselves through poor dietary habits
and lifestyle factors, and exposure to pharmaceutical drugs. It is our
ignorance that has made us vulnerable to the vested interests that have
intentionally distorted the facts and willingly sacrificed the health of
millions of women at the altar of profit and greed. It is only by our
willingness to take responsibility for our bodies and make the commitment
to return to a healthy, balanced way of life that we'll be able to walk
tall and strong for the rest of our lives.
-
- NOTE: (the above are excerpts from -
Osteoprosis - The Bones of Contention, which may not be reprinted or published
in any form without written permission of the publisher. GetWell International
© 1998 All Rights Reserved)
-
- The author presently lives in Australia
where she conducts a private psychotherapy practice and also devotes time
to lecturing, training and writing. She is a contributing writer to holistic
publications in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, Europe and the
United States on topics of interest that concern her, relating to health,
women's empowerment, relationships, and personal and planetary transformation.
She may be contacted at Light Unlimited, Locked Bag 8000 - MDC, Kew, Victoria
3101, Australia, - Fax: Int'l + 613 9855-9991 E-mail: golight@ozemail.com.au
|
