Osteoporosis is a disabling disease affecting an estimated 20 million Americans.  Currently, one-third of postmenopausal women in the United States have osteoporosis, and the U.S. has the highest rate of osteoporotic fractures in the world.  Each year, in the United States, 1.3 million people over forty-five years of age experience bone fractures associated with osteoporosis, mainly in the vertebral spinal column, wrist, and hip.  While these fractures can be painful, and vertebral fractures can lead to skeletal deformity, hip fractures are even more serious.  Twelve to 20 percent of older people with hip fractures die within a year of the fracture.

The American diet of processed foods, carbonated soft drinks, caffeine, and high protein, sugar, and salt consumption can promote osteoporosis.  Processed foods lead directly to calcium loss because these foods are nutrient deficient.  This in turn stimulates a need for protein, which, eaten in high amounts, can cause the body to lose calcium.

Another source of calcium loss is a high-sodium diet.  Sugar has been linked to loss of calcium as well and can cause metabolic problems that eventually lead to mineral imbalances.  Soft drinks and caffeine also put bones at risk.  Consuming large amounts of soft drinks high in phosphorous can lead to high levels of phosphorus in the blood.  Since the body needs to maintain blood levels of phosphorus and calcium in equal amounts, high phosphorus causes calcium to be drawn from the bones to meet the demand. 

A reduced supply of hormones is the primary cause of menopause-related osteoporosis, a condition that is generally attributed to a lack of estrogen, but the major hormone deficiency of concern in osteoporosis is progesterone, which stimulates bone formation by stimulating osteoblast-mediated mineralization of bone.

With a combination of low progesterone and poor diet, osteoporosis may already be well underway as women approach menopause.  Then, when menstruation ceases, osteoporosis accelerates because estrogen levels fall, and the already diminished bone mass is even more rapidly depleted.  Other risk factors for osteoporosis include insufficient calcium absorption, the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and glucocorticoid medications, fluoride, excess thyroxin, low body fat, and cigarette smoking.

Calcium levels are regulated by the parathyroid glands.  Through the secretion of parathyroid hormone, these four small parathyroid glands regulate how much calcium is absorbed from our diet, how much is secreted by our kidneys, and how much is stored in our bones.  When one or more of the parathyroid glands are overactive, our bones release calcium constantly into the bloodstream.  It is the excess parathyroid hormone that is causing this.  Several recent studies have shown that the body will restore bone density after the excess hormone is removed.  Additionally, a person who suffers severe damage or removal of the parathyroid glands will experience low calcium problems that may require lifelong treatment with calcium and vitamin D.

Alternative treatments for osteoporosis focus on supplementation with natural sources of calcium and hormones, balancing the body’s parathyroid hormone production, as well as exercise and regulating diet.  These approaches can be very effective without leading to side effects.

References:

Alternative Medicine The Definitive Guide by The Burton Goldberg Group

The Thyroid Solution by Ridha Arem, M.D.              www.parathyroid.com