Newsletter Archives November 2005 I recently asked my friend David Lovell-Smith, a doctor with a busy general practice in Christchurch New Zealand just how many patients he sees annually with an osteoporosis-related fracture. He said that in reality it is hardly ever. On reflection he wrote: Statistically most GP's would be lucky to deal with one new bone fracture per year that you could truly sheet home to osteoporosis. What we do deal with daily is patients who have been led into taking inadequately tested drugs on the pretext that they are being "protected". August 2005 Since last October I have enjoyed the constant support and friendship of Timra Freedman - a wonderful wise woman from Boston. After reading my book The Myth of Osteoporosis Timra was galvanised to promote the issues around the over-diagnosis and over treatment of osteoporosis and osteopenia in the well. She has tirelessly contacted U.S. doctors, specialists, organisations, media, journalists, and individuals. Her Herculean efforts are bearing fruit. On July 6 my book was very favourably reviewed in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and in May was the impetus for an article by medical journalist Judy Foreman in the Boston Globe, New York Sun, Baltimore Sun and the Los Angeles Times... June/July 2005 Lately I have been alerted to a serious side-effect of the osteoporosis drugs Fosamax and Actonel by women who are experiencing chronic often severe joint and bone pain, swelling of the legs ankles and feet, muscles weakness and cramping, stiffness, and difficulty walking. These effects are rarely acknowledged in the medical literature... April/May 2005 The majority of the population over age 50 still believe they are at risk for osteoporosis because it continues to be defined as a measure of low bone density. Because bisphosphonates drugs suppress bone turnover, long term use may result in microdamage – brittle bones that fracture more easily... March 2005 Study after study continue to show that moderate exercise helps to prevent a host of chronic illnesses, from diabetes to heart disease to osteoporosis. Exercise causes the skeleton to become heavier or sturdier in response to the demands made of it. No other agent, hormonal or mineral, can do this... January/February 2005 There is a generally accepted belief that calcium supplementation and milk consumption is good for fracture prevention. The fact has long been disputed by those knowledgeable about nutrition and the mechanics of bone health, but the evidence is finally becoming irrefutable that we have, yet again, been misinformed en masse. ... December 2004 It has been a bad few weeks for the drug industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as corruption and unethical practice has been exposed. The unravelling of the FDA's credibility over its handling of the Vioxx tragedy has created outrage and mistrust... October 2004 Perpetuating
the Hype: The U.S. Surgeon General Report on Osteoporosis:The October
report released with great fanfare
and media attention has created a new wave of fear among populations
of well men and women. But claims that by the year 2020 half of
all American citizens older than 50 will suffer osteoporosis-related
fractures are unsubstantiated, and alarming hip fracture mortality
rates misleading...
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