Need to grumble

I have taken part in a bone clinic offered by our local hospital.  Last week's two hour session was an introduction to what osteoporosis is, how bones form and rebuild, etc., actually quite interesting, although I kind of knew it all it was interestingly presented and provided a context for what was to come.  Second part that week was a good session with a physiotherapist with all the usual advice about caring for the spine in the way we move, etc.  Yesterday's session was another fish altogether.  The dietitian came across as a shill for the dairy industry, which was most unfortunate.  I asked her about leafy green vegetables and she told me the calcium in them was not very bioavailable (true of spinach or beet greens, perhaps, but not true of other leafies, like kale, collards, broccoli).  Then I asked her about Vitamin K2 but after fluffing about K1 and my attempting to correct her course she said I should refer that question to the rheumatologist, who was our final authority.

The rheumatologist was only there to talk about the medications.  I asked her about vitamin K2 and she said there had been four studies none of which had shown that K2 had any effect on bone density.  There were two things wrong with that answer.  First, it's not hard to find information about Japanese studies which show that Vitamin K2 does in fact help improve bone density.  Secondly, there are other good things K2 does, like protect the body from calcium getting deposited in the wrong places.  The final thing which really distresses me.  I went to this workshop mainly because I'd been told that I'd be given my complete bone report.  Well, all we got was the t-score for the femoral neck, a figure I had already with some difficulty managed to find out more than six months ago.  When I asked about finding out the other measurements the rheumatologist told me that I didn't need to know them.  In other words, today I have no idea what the condition of my spine was last September when the scan was done.  I was really insulted by this patronizing attitude, and I don't know what to do to get more information about MY bones.

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