Good day to you!

About a week ago I checked the data for this newsletter and found that there are over 5,000 readers. I was amazed. Last time I looked it was about 1,000.

Welcome to all new readers (I have not said that in awhile) and welcome back to those who have been reading it for ages.

I think that this month might be a good time for a reflection on the state of Osteopenia/Osteoprososi research as well giving as one practical issue - a NEW cause listed on the site.

First, REFELCTION.

when I began researching for 'everyone' and not just things that related to me, I began to notice a BIG difference in research topics. The United States, Canada, Australia and a few European countries focused on chemistry and pharmaceuticals. Other European countries, New Zealand, Iran, Japan, India and China seemed to concentrate on foods, herbs etc. Even fewer, such as England, seemed to cover both.

At first I thought it was a question of money. If people earn less, they can not afford pharmaceuticals. Then I realized that New Zealand was a developed country as is Japan. Slowly and I mean SLOWLY it began to dawn on me that these differences in research came from very different views of health and disease.

In one, the aim of research is to understand the chemistry, to find what chemical element is 'common to all or to a whole class' and then manipulate that most basic bodily reaction. Chemistry gone wrong can be corrected by applying different chemistry. This is, and remains, the main approach in the Australian, Canada, the United States and some countries in Europe.

In the other approach Osteopenia and Osteoporosis are seen as the result of some imbalance in living and the remedy is to apply changes in lifestyle to bring the body back into balance so bone building can resume the natural course. So studies in Iran and New Zealand are about food (of course New Zealand's dairy industry could be an influence.), Japan, China, India focuses on food, herbs and 'ways of living' that promote balance and tranquility despite the stresses of modern culture.

Of course there are other national centers of research. This is not a definitive review.

But in the last year or so I have been struck with a basic shift in this pattern of research. In the countries dominated by chemical research and pharmaceutical remedies, people using health care and some health care providers are reading the second group of research articles...and they are moving their health care choices closer to the second group of researchers.

For many , however, they ether do not understand or have not adopted the 'the whole balance of your life' approach of this second approach. Some are still in the chemical mindset. They want to apply an herb or supplement in the way that the 'chemical approach' applies pharmaceuticals - something taken in isolation -rather than a subtle shifting of a whole life style.

For others there has been a definite, though sometimes subtle shift to viewing all their medical conditions as embedded in their lifestyle and the see their Osteoenia as a sign that somethings in their lives are out of balance. Using just this or that is NO LONGER seen a really adequate. Instead they are shifting towards a different way of living - even while working or living in a non-wholeistic culture.

On the other hand....In the countries dominated by a wholeistic, life in balance approach it is clear that some researchers are now doing investigations of chemicals. For many this comes down to comparing chemicals [pharmaceuticals] with their more traditional herbs or foods - and here the very nature of such comparisons means that elements are isolated so they can be measured and compared without "interference" from other factors. This very kind of research is a shift away from the wholistic and towards the isolation of elements found in the chemical approach. Amazing.

It would take far more space than this Newsletter offers to discuss some of the causes of these shifts. BUT as I read research, it is clear that the base in both health care approaches is shifting. Where this will end, I do not know. But movement is there.

Why am I saying all this?

First, I think it something that ALL of us need to understand about the state of health care in our world. And I think it would be helpful if each of us could figure out just where we are on the moving spectrum.

Second, when I started this site I promised myself AND all readers that I would offer information from both these health care approaches. I would NOT take sides - though sometimes an adjective here or there may reveal my current orientation ....an orientation that continues its own shift as I deal with my life and its health issues.

I hope this issue of the Newsletter will help you understand why I talk about things YOU might prefer I not discuss since they do not fit your current interest. AND it may help you understand why I always want to examine claims and not just push things based on a single study [unless I tell you that] or things pushed by marketers of products.

OK...end of the philosophical stuff. Now to the practical.

Around 2000 a physician posted in his health newsletter that chronic dehydration was a cause of Osteoporosis. Now, thorough the work of an Iranian physician, this idea is being advanced again. After reading both researchers, I have added CHRONIC DEHYDRATION to the CAUSES page and I urge you to read it- especially if you are thinking, "I drink enough liquids" (Please go to Osteopenia3.com and look for CAUSES. The new page is right near the top of the links under Causes. This topic may be even more important than the 'acid/alkaline' cause.

NEXT. I got myself on a new list of global researchers. There was no category for researchers interested in Osteopenia or Osteoporosis BUT when I started poking around I found a whole bunch of abstracts about herbs, foods etc. that affect bone building. For the next month I am dedicating my time to these items - mostly from Latin America, Asia, Southern Europe. Then I shall read PuBMed, International bone mineral society archives etc. to see if there are other studies about these things. Then I shall add items to the site. If you subscribe to the RSS feed, you will get notice of each addition as it is made.

After I finish this task, I am going to go back and revised the 'front pages' that are listed in the Navigation bar. Those pages were created years ago and I have been adding and adding. It is time to reorganize so they are more readable.

So that is it for today. Lots of 'philosophy' and 1 practical item...dehydration.

May you be well. Enjoy the changing weather. Thank you for reading. Until next month....

Kate

PS If you want to subscribe to this newsletter, go to osteopenia3.com and sign up there. I can not add or subtract email addresses.