Osteoporosis: a progressive loss of minerals, bone mass and bone density. It affects men as well as women and can result in fractures of the hip, shoulder, ribs, vertebrae, forearm and wrist. It can be due to various factors such as ageing, prolonged inactivity, eating disorders, hormone changes, allopathic drugs (such as steroids, laxatives, diuretics, anti-acids anti-coagulants, radiation and chemotherapy) or calcium deficiency. The bones remain the same size and shape but their honeycomb structure becomes less dense because bone is broken down faster than it is replaced.
Osteoporosis regularly occurs in men who are deficient in testosterone and in women who are deficient in progesterone. One possible reason the condition is more common in women than men is because after the menopause the parathyroid glands may produce less calcitonin, the hormone that opposes bone degradation.
People who have osteoporosis may not be aware of it until they break a bone. Some signs to be aware of may be bone fractures, loss of height, severe pain or discomfort in the wight-bearing joints of the hips or knees or in the back, muscle spasms or weakness of the pelvic floor and limited or restricted movement in the chest and/or spine.
To prevent osteoporosis you need to understand it. In her book Passage to Power Leslie Kenton argues that: “despite all the fear-mongering that surrounds the disease the truth is that there are actions you can take not only to halt bone loss if it has begun but even to reverse it – no matter what your age.” Indeed exercise and a calcium-rich diet reversed osteoporosis in a year-long study of 36 post-menopausal women.
A close look at the architecture of bones
Bones may seem to be tough inanimate objects but they are not. They are actually living support tissue which is constantly changing and growing. Bone is made up of a combination of a flexible non-cellular collagen matrix which has been embedded with hard and inflexible mineralised crystals. The combination of both this tensile strength from the minerals and compression strength from the collagen creates just about the finest structural resistance to breakage found anywhere in the living world.
Your bones are constantly renewing themselves at a surprising rate. There are 2 kinds of bone: cortical and trabecular. The heavy bones of your body such as the long bones of the arms and legs are cortical bones. They are designed to give great directional strength and are densely cast into high spirals around tiny tubular channels through which cells can travel. Cortical bones renew themselves completely every 10 years. The trabecular bone (found in the vertebrae and lat the end of the long bones of arms and legs) is more web-like in it’s structure and renews itself every 2-3 years.
The role of female hormones
After puberty oestrogen takes on the role of slowing or moderating the rate at which old bone is broken down. Meanwhile progesterone encourages the manufacture of new bone. (It is ‘bone trophic’). If the speed of these two processes are in harmony your skeleton will maintain is bone density. However if bone breakdown begins to overtake new bone production then osteoporosis develops. In osteoporosis the fibres that are knitted together to form the structure of the bones become thinner and there are less of them. Under the microsope the appearance of spaces in the bone make it look spongy and porous.
Osteoblasts are the cells that are modulated by progesterone and create new bone after the osteoclasts (modulated by oestrogen) have dissolved old bone. It is during the 5-8 years before menopause when many women are experiencing anovulatory cycles that they are most vulnerable to bone loss. This is because when no ovulation takes place there is no corpus luteum and it is this which produces progesterone. Insufficient progesterone leads to insufficient osteoblast activity. Oestrogen Replacement Therapy slows osteoporosis by slowing bone cell death. It does not nourish bone cell growth however so there is still some bone loss. Progesterone has a far more important role both in protecting against osteoporosis as well as reversing it.
Dr John Lee, an American doctor, found that by using a natural plant-derived form of progesterone (wild yam cream) together with diet and lifestyle changes he was able to stop and even reverse osteoporosis – even in women aged 70 or more.
The importance of exercise
Those whose daily lives include some strenuous activities have the fewest post-menopausal fractures; those whose daily lives are the least active have the greatest incidence of post-menopausal fractures. Why is this? When any crystal structure such as bone, is put under stress there are changes in the voltage of the electric fields around and through it. These electromagnetic changes draw the osteoclasts (bone-eating cells) to the areas of your bones which need replacing as well as encouraging the production of new bone by the osteoblasts. When it is properly developed the bone structure forms in arcs and curves and these patterns give resistance to all the stresses your bones are put under. The more stress you stress your bones through exercise the better quality will be the electrical fields that govern remodelling.
Exercise is the post-menopausal woman’s must powerful ally for maintaining break-resistant bones. To maintain bones mass and increase the flexible strength of the bones it is recommended to do weight-bearing exercise four times a week for 30 minutes.
The importance of diet and calcium
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body. Calcium and phosphorus are vital for strong bones. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in bones is about 2.5 : 1. About 99% of the calcium in your body is deposited in your bones and teeth and the remaining 1% has other important jobs to do in your body.
Bone tissue is the storehouse for our reserves of calcium, which can be added or withdrawn as needed to maintain a balance of calcium in the blood. Deficiency in the blood can lead to muscle cramping, and irregular pulse rate. In balance it helps heart contraction and good brain function. Calcium is frequently called on and even called forth from the bones to balance the pH of the blood making it more alkaline when it has become too acid from long-term stress, eating a lot of meat or drinking a lot of coffee. When you consume less calcium than you need the parathyroid produces a hormone called calcitonin which releases calcium stores from the bones and you lose bone mass. Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee (whether regular or decaf) increases the risk of osteoporosis-related fractures by 69%.
It is important and interesting to note that when your body is in great need of calcium it is also absorbed more effectively. The smaller the supply of calcium available from your foods and the greater the need your body has for this mineral the more efficient calcium absorption becomes. The opposite is also true: when large quantities of calcium are available then calcium absorption is markedly decreased.
However research shows that taking calcium supplements is of little help in preventing osteoporosis. It may even make the problem worse. Taking higher doses of calcium supplements can contribute to kidney stones and interfere with the metabolism of zinc and magnesium. They may also increase bacterial adherence in the bladder and urinary tract increasing the likelihood of UTI’s.
The herbalist Susun Weed says in her book Menopausal Years the Wisewoman Way: “dense bone does not guarantee freedom from fracture. Bones that resist breaking are flexible. The dense bones of women taking calcium supplements and HRT are often rigid. Flexible bone mass is built with balanced mineral intake (leafy greens, herbal infusions) and exercise.”
In her book “Getting Back on Track” Jill Turland makes the point that neither diet, exercise or oestrogen may truly get to the root cause of Osteoporosis and she says for most people “low calcium is not the issue so much as what is happening to the calcium within the body“. She traces the problem back to imbalances in the pituitary gland which in turn affects every endocrine gland in the body including the parathyroids which control levels of calcium in the blood.
“When something happens to diminish the supply of energy to the parathyroids from the pituitary, the message to the calcium molecules becomes enfeebled. Calcium heading back into bone fails to reach it’s destination, sometimes remaining in muscle tissue, causing polymyalgia, sometimes being deposited in other parts of the body, such as the arterial walls, causing atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis, as the blood seeks to off-load its excess. Meanwhile, the bones remain depleted and osteoporosis sets in”. Jill Turland also mentions that bone spurs and chronic fatigue can have their roots in calcium problems caused by pituitary under function. Jill has discovered that the pituitary (a gland in the brain) is affected by chronic tension from suppressed anger and trauma to the bones of the skull from dental treatment etc. and has successfully used homeopathic remedies such as Staphysagria to release the sphenoid bone cranium and all the muscles of the face and neck.
Tips for Healthy Bones
- A good treatment and prevention programme for osteoporosis needs to include carefully chosen vitamins and minerals which play an important part in osteoblast activity: vitamin D, vitamin C, beta-carotene, zinc and magnesium. – as well as weight-bearing exercise (preferably half an hour four times a week). Without adequate exercise calcium cannot be incorporated into the bones since it is only when the bones are put under physical stress that calcium is demanded by the bones.
- It important to include lots of leafy-green vegetables, broccoli, nuts, seeds, fish, wholemeal bread, tofu, yoghurt and dried fruit (especially figs) as these are all rich in calcium. Micronutrients such as selenium, chromium, copper, boron, silicon, zinc, cobalt and sulphur are vital for flexible strength in bones. The richest sources of these micronutrients are seaweeds, nettles, dandelion and organically grown grain and produce. Organic fruits and vegetables are the best sources of boron.
- From proper assimilation calcium needs an acid medium in the digestive tract but as people get older the hydrochloric acid content of the stomach tends to decrease. Taking digestive herbs or bitters such as dandelion root tincture before eating can help with this.
- If there is excess phosphorus in the diet then neither calcium or phosphorus can be used efficiently. Therefore it is important to limit or avoid sources of phosphorus in the diet such as red meat and sodas/fizzy drinks, white flour products, frozen chips, processed cheeses, instant soups and puddings.
- Excess alcohol, sugar and meat should be avoided due to ‘metabolic acidosis’. This is because calcium is drawn from the cells to help neutralise the acidic protein waste products. Cigarette smoking has also been associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis.
- Taking magnesium can make the greatest difference to good calcium metabolism. Adequate magnesium helps the body absorb calcium. Due to the depletion of the soil in industrial agriculture magnesium deficiency is now relatively common. Magnesium is high in whole grains and legumes but low in processed foods.
- Fluoride (sometimes prescribed as a cure for osteoporosis) increases bone density but also increases osteoporosis-related fractures. Flouride is often present in tap water and most brands of toothpaste.
Using the Schuessler Tissue Salts for Bone Strengthening
Tissue salts or cell salts are micro-doses of the body’s 12 vital minerals prepared in a homeopathic method to the 6X potency. In this dilution the remedy can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream and into the body through the mucosa of the mouth. Schuessler found that adequate cell nutrition may be restored and cellular metabolism normalised by supplying the required tissue salts to the organism in a finely divided and assimilable form. They are safe to use and have no side-effects: they naturally restore balance at the cellular level of your being.
Calc Flour
Calc Flour is the elasticity cell salt. Calc flour is found in bone surfaces, teeth enamel and in the elastic fibres of the skin. Muscle tissue, connective tissue and blood vessel walls. It can be taken for any deficiency/ or weakness in the bone and tooth enamel. It can also help with prolapse as it helps conditions caused by relaxed or hardened ligaments, tendons and muscle fibres.
Calc Phos
Calc Phos is the cell building tissue salt. It is found in the bones, teeth, connective tissues, blood cells and digestive juices. It is used for bone growth/and or deficiency and so is needed in cases of poor bone density and osteoporosis.
Silica
As well as being a cell cleanser and conditioner it is a calcium re-organiser and distributor. It is found in bone cells and is needed where there are problems with skeletal strength.
Combination U: Calcium Absorption
Combination U is designed to assist all women concerned with maintaining calcium in the bones. This remedy improves calcium uptake in bones and teeth ensuring the maximum utilisation and absorption of calcium. It contains Calc phos, Calc Flour and Silica mentioned above plus Nat Phos which improves digestive processes and thus calcium assimilation.