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Are we being lied to about side effects of AA? Is there a better course of action? Or is safer to do

Posted , 7 users are following.

kathleen65757
kathleen65757

After reading comments on other threads I devised above to hopefully include people who are making good points and bring everyone together.

Some of us have different experiences from what the providers of Meds for osteoporosis are reporting.

Others of us are still sceptical about taking the drugs and are trying our best to improve our bone health through vitamins and exercise.

Is bone density the same as bone strength? A comment on another thread has made this point.

How can we know we are making an informed decision or that we know all we need to know to look after our bones in our old age?

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  • Anhaga
    Anhaga kathleen65757

    Posted

    I do not think bone density and bone strength are synonyms.  The reason I say this is because the bone density as measured by the machines is going to indicate that a small woman's bones are less dense than a large man's.  Just because his are larger bones.  Yet her bones may be strong for her, with a good rate of bone remodelling and very little, if any, loss of bone density as she ages.  But the diagnosis given may well be osteopenia.  I don't know if there is any way to measure bone strength. Do you know if there is?  

    On the other hand bone density is a useful tool and I wish I had had a DXA scan at a much younger age so that I would have a baseline on which to base my current situation.  I feel that my bones are strong,  Considering what a  klutz I am if I were truly "fragile" I'd be in little pieces by now.  I did have a broken bone two winters ago, caused when I slipped on ice and my knee bent sideways causing a tibial plateau fracture.  I was actually told that this was "lucky" because the alternative in the situation would have been for ligaments to have torn and that would actually have been much harder to heal.  Personally I think I should have been offered a bone density scan at approximately the age of fifty, and followups at regular intervals, say every five years.  There is probably a standard in some jurisdictions which we could emulate where I live.  We are offered free screening for colon cancer and mammograms.  But nothing to monitor cardiovascular health or bone health until we present with illness.  This is not health care, but sickness care.

    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Anhaga

      Posted

      No they are not synonyms! If you have tiny bones they are not going to show up as very dense as you said. My husband has the bones of a 30 year old but even a specialist has been amazed at how tiny my bones are. I have small hands and am only five feet tall.

      I have had two shoulder reconstructions involving rotator cuff and tendonesis so know about that kind of damage and healing.

      The X-rays on my back showed the bones to be okay but the bone density did not. 

      It is a point worth making. 

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