Osteoporosis natural treatments

Similarly, I've had a diagnosis this year. I've read all sorts, and someone suggested a small daily orange.

Oh, I’ve not heard that one! Any idea why? It’s a bit of a minefield isn’t it?

I too have been diagnosed but don’t want to take pills. I want to go down there natural route. Any help and advice would be appreciated especially as regards to amount of protein l, vitamin K and D. I agree it’s a minefield. Also how much exercise is enough?

It’s a bit of a struggle to find the right information to be honest. The Royal Osteoporosis Society website has a lot of information but not necessarily on natural treatment. I’m taking 4000iu Vit d3 with K2 my-7. I’ve recently watched an American doctor who recommends a different vit k, mk-4 which works better so I’ve added that! I’ve been watching the Dr Doug show on YouTube which is very informative and Dr Peter Dingle who is also great on natural treatments. It seems we just don’t have people here looking at this! Apparently years ago the government said there should be osteoporosis hubs available to everyone who needs them but not one has opened!

The Royal Osteoporosis Society is currently asking members to support their campaign to open osteoporosis hubs by writing to their MP. In the UK osteoporosis is not usually diagnosed until after a fracture.

There is no reason why complementary therapies cannot be used alongside medical treatment, BUT these are not a replacement or alternative treatment.

I’ve just been diagnosed, I have acid reflux and gum disease, I'm seeing a consultant next month, interested in this subject Lynette thanks.

I came across this:

www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/pilates-and-yoga/osteoporosis-pilates-exercise-video/

It's from the NHS, so should be reliable.

Most women will get osteoporosis eventually. I was diagnosed with osteopaenia around 15 years ago. The DEXA technician said it was perfectly normal for my age and not to worry.
So, I take Vit D, do weight-bearing and resistance exercise and eat a good mixed diet.
I hear it's best to avoid carbonated drinks though I'm not sure if this has any truth to it. I avoid champagne though, lol!

I've been told the same, keepingquiet. It's absolutely normal for bone density to decrease with age, although it is possible to mitigate the damage by keeping muscles strong and avoiding risk of falls.

Although I have osteopenia, my Z score is only slightly lower than expected for my age, caused by hormone blockers for post-cancer treatment.

The standard "treatment" is no treatment. I've been told to take Vitamin D (which everybody over a certain age is told) and that my dietary calcium intake is adequate. I've been told that taking too much calcium (especially from supplements) can be damaging.

I do strength/resistance exercises three times a week plus Pilates, aqua aerobics and Zumba. My leisure centre is very good and I'm lucky to live within a ten minute walk. Part of the subscription was an initial consultation with one of the trainers, who went through my medical conditions and recommended a programme. If anybody else has a leisure centre nearby, I would recommend it. I've also made a group of new friends, who are all about the same age and fitness level as I am.

I'm not overweight, although I would benefit from losing a couple of kilos, so I'm enjoying the "salad season". Diet is the easy bit for me because I haven't had to make many adjustments. I'm not going to tell overweight people with osteoporosis that they need to lose some weight because I'm sure they've already been told.

After all that, I'm afraid that we do lose bone density with age and we can't stop the process completely. Our bone density was set when we were children and we can't go back.

You shouldn’t take Vit K if you’re on blood thinners. I take Vit C to help my body absorb iron so I assume other things need Vit C, too. High protein diets seem to be all the rage at the moment but I fear I should have started soon after the menopause.

Lynette55

It’s a bit of a struggle to find the right information to be honest. The Royal Osteoporosis Society website has a lot of information but not necessarily on natural treatment. I’m taking 4000iu Vit d3 with K2 my-7. I’ve recently watched an American doctor who recommends a different vit k, mk-4 which works better so I’ve added that! I’ve been watching the Dr Doug show on YouTube which is very informative and Dr Peter Dingle who is also great on natural treatments. It seems we just don’t have people here looking at this! Apparently years ago the government said there should be osteoporosis hubs available to everyone who needs them but not one has opened!

be careful of medical advice from Peter Dingle, who has no medical qualification or training.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Dingle

I have refused the standard medications offered. I tried 2, but had side effects. I try to keep my protein levels good, take various supplements and regularly exercise.

I asked my GP about going on HRT for my bone health (I’m 72). He said the NICE guidelines did not recommend HRT for osteoporosis. I pointed out that the Royal Osteoporosis Society say it is just as effective as other treatments, which surprised him. He contacted the hospital gynae department for advice and got back to me within the week saying he will issue the HRT prescriptions. I’ve only been on the treatment a few weeks and will ask for a bone scan after a year or so to see if there is any improvement.

twaddle

I've been told the same, keepingquiet. It's absolutely normal for bone density to decrease with age, although it is possible to mitigate the damage by keeping muscles strong and avoiding risk of falls.

Although I have osteopenia, my Z score is only slightly lower than expected for my age, caused by hormone blockers for post-cancer treatment.

The standard "treatment" is no treatment. I've been told to take Vitamin D (which everybody over a certain age is told) and that my dietary calcium intake is adequate. I've been told that taking too much calcium (especially from supplements) can be damaging.

I do strength/resistance exercises three times a week plus Pilates, aqua aerobics and Zumba. My leisure centre is very good and I'm lucky to live within a ten minute walk. Part of the subscription was an initial consultation with one of the trainers, who went through my medical conditions and recommended a programme. If anybody else has a leisure centre nearby, I would recommend it. I've also made a group of new friends, who are all about the same age and fitness level as I am.

I'm not overweight, although I would benefit from losing a couple of kilos, so I'm enjoying the "salad season". Diet is the easy bit for me because I haven't had to make many adjustments. I'm not going to tell overweight people with osteoporosis that they need to lose some weight because I'm sure they've already been told.

After all that, I'm afraid that we do lose bone density with age and we can't stop the process completely. Our bone density was set when we were children and we can't go back.

Your final paragraph sums up the situation well- we don't have a history of bone breakages in my family, except a couple of small childhood ones, and my mum lived into her 90s with no bone disease.

My problems were monitored because I was on high dose steroids for many years, but no longer take them.

Bone disease is an inevitable part of ageing for most of us.

How we manage that I suspect is entirely up to us, but it is a slow process that takes decades not years, and so for some of us we may escape the eventual decline because we get other things!

luvlyjubly

I have refused the standard medications offered. I tried 2, but had side effects. I try to keep my protein levels good, take various supplements and regularly exercise.

I asked my GP about going on HRT for my bone health (I’m 72). He said the NICE guidelines did not recommend HRT for osteoporosis. I pointed out that the Royal Osteoporosis Society say it is just as effective as other treatments, which surprised him. He contacted the hospital gynae department for advice and got back to me within the week saying he will issue the HRT prescriptions. I’ve only been on the treatment a few weeks and will ask for a bone scan after a year or so to see if there is any improvement.

It may take more than a year to show any recovery/deterioration. Bones repair and crumble very slowly, sometimes taking decades.

I was told I had Osteoarthritus some six years ago. Never had a Dexa scan (although I have requested this on several occasions - always refused). Back in February 2019, I tripped over something and fell backwards, landing heavily and knew immediately I had really hurt my back.
Because I was in a public place, and rather embarrassed, I managed to carry on that day with taking very strong pain killers.

So, it was not until four weeks later that I finally went for an MRI scan which showed I had caused a stress fracture in my lower back with that fall (I had thought it was just soft tissue damage). I was then 78 years old and my GP practice decided that this meant that I had osteoporosis - without any further checks.

Put onto Alendronic Acid and my prescribed ADCAL tablet was doubled from one a day to two a day.

Although I am careful, I have had other falls, never broken any bone - have real doubts about that diagnosis, but all I get from GP's is that anyone of my age who has a stress fracture in my spine MUST have osteoporosis!!!

Recently, another condition has meant I have had to had lots of blood tests, and this showed I now had far too much calcium . Adcal tablets stopped immediately (just vit D tablet daily now), even one of my BP tablets stopped as it is a dieretic.

I am not at all convinced that so-called natural treatments as an alternative to drug ones can really do much to halt, let alone treat these natural aging trends, but we do need regular check-ups to ensure that one drug therapy does not cause other problems.

charley68

There is no reason why complementary therapies cannot be used alongside medical treatment, BUT these are not a replacement or alternative treatment.

I agree with this. If you already have vertebral fractures you really need to get on top of this. One of my patients drank herself to death as the only way to stop the pain of her dreadful osteoporosis. Her only comfotrable position day and night was on all fours. It can be totally disabling and we are lucky to have treatments for this now.

Weight bearing exercises are good but sometimes impossible when in pain from musculoskeletal problems.

Please take all the help you are offered.

Has anyone else seen various reports on the merits of goats milk for oesteoporosis? Apparently the calcium is more easily absorbed and better at bone repair than supplements. I'm not giving up Adcal but am drinking goats milk as well, tastes no different to cows but my taste buds are not good.
The report I read was based on a village in Poland where women only drank goats milk and no one suffered from oesteoporosis. Sorry, can't trace it now but AI is positive about the merits of adding goats milk to our diet for this and other reasons.

I've had an interest in osteoporosis for over 20 years due to family history. In my 50s, I signed up for a trial related to the effect of exercise on bone density. It involved a Dexa scan before and after the year-long trial. The exercises were a mix of aerobic and weight-bearing. 3 sessions a week, 2 under supervision and 1 at home. They included things like jumping from step with straight legs, intended to send a bit of a jar up as far as back.
I was one of the few who completed the trial- a number couldn't do the type of exercise shown to help bones, due to knee or back problems.
At the end, my repeat Dexa scan showed a slight improvement, much to the surprise of the technician running the scan.
Since then, I've taken a course of Alendronic acid, take a calcium/vitamin D supplement and try to incorporate weight bearing exercise into my daily life.
I have Dexa scans every 2-3 years and have managed to keep my bone density within a reasonable level for my age- now 75.

I am on a 6 monthly injection of denosumab.

That's interesting, Farmor15. Do you you know if the results from the trial have been published?

twaddle - unfortunately the results weren't published - the study was for a PhD thesis. The person doing it had some other problems, I think. However, I suspect that the small number of particants lasting for the full year, and able to do the type of exercises needed, would have made the study not statistically valid.
My own conclusion was that I was lucky to be able to do the exercises, and apparently benefit. Apart from knee and hip issues, anyone with stress incontinence would find the jumping a problem! I had to wear a pad when I went to the classes 😩.

There are other published studies such as this one:
The impact of adding weight-bearing exercise versus nonweight bearing programs to the medical treatment of elderly patients with osteoporosis - PMC share.google/0YVyGm55DbCONEQ2E

Thanks for the reply. I'll follow up the link. Sorry about your other problems.

I've had two DEXA scans - 42 and 18 months ago, so I have a measure of progression. I'm having another one in 6 months. I've been doing a lot of weight-bearing exercise for the last (almost) year, so it will be interesting to see if there has been any slowing down in the progression.

If not, I feel fitter and stronger, so it's been worth it anyway.