Your are receiving this e-mail because you opted to receive the Osteopenia updates newsletter.

New - Fosamax Litigation

There is consumer Fosamax litigation.

It seems that some patients taking bisphosphonates develop osteonecrosis of the jaw, a condition in which the bone tissue in the jaw fails to heal after a minor trauma such as a tooth extraction causing the bone to be exposed.

John Threadgill appears to be a lead lawyer. I have no connection with him or his firm or the lawsuit. If you want more information,do a web search for "fosamx litigation".

Monthly tips/research update:

About a week ago I realized that in doing so much research about bone loss, increasing bone density and new treatments, I was losing focus.

I had become so focused on bone density, I was forgetting that The REAL goal for everything is to PREVENT fractures.

Fractures can rob us of Independence and in the case of hip fracture often lead to death within a year.

Preventing fractures is the real goal. With that in mind, I reread a study of twins in Finland. As you know Osteopenia and Osteoporosis runs in families; it has a genetic component. The Finns wondered about this Genetic Predisposition and actual fractures.

First, they pulled the data on all same sex twins born before 1946. The scientifically oriented among us, will want to know that this group of 15,098 people had 2308 monozygotic and 5241 dizygotic twin pairs at the beginning of the study.

Then they studied the national hospital discharge register data for the entire population of Finland.

They measured the number and concordance of osteoporotic fractures in the twin pairs from 1972-96. After all if the genetic component is strong in fractures, BOTH twins should suffer fractures.

Results: 786 people out of the 15,098 sustained an osteoporotic fracture.

In women, the relative number of twin pairs in whom the fracture affected both twins in a pair was 9.5% in monozygotic pairs and 7.9% in dizygotic pairs. In men, the figures were 9.9% and 2.3%.

Conclusion: "Susceptibility to osteoporotic fractures in elderly Finns is not strongly influenced by genetic factors, especially among elderly women."

They further concluded: "The traditional strategy for prevention of osteoporotic fractures—that is, increasing peak bone mass and preventing age related bone loss SHOULD... include NEW elements such as prevention of falls and protection of the critical anatomical sites of the body when a fall occurs." (emphasis mine)

This is good news! When it comes to fractures, things under our control have great influence. Our continued Independence is very much up to us. Oh, and remember the Finns live above the 42nd parallel. They have Vitamin D issues just like many in the USA and Canada so this study is even more encouraging.

After I reread the Finnish study, I went back to the Osteopenia site and reread the material about fracture prevention and decided to recommit to a fracture prevention program. I am emphasizing balance and co-ordination exercises anew.

I will continue bone density exercises. Since it is mid-summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, I'll go to a local air conditioned building where I can climb the stairs, walk through a hallway and then climb down. But balance and co-ordination will be my emphasis for the next few weeks. I know from the past that even a few weeks of practice makes for improvement.

How much time do you take for balance and o-ordination exercises? Remember they can prevent falls. Avoiding fractures is our goal.

In closing:

I have added a list of BOOKS to the web site. I hope you will find it useful.

And if you would like to suggest questions or topics for future issues of this newsletter, use the form at: https://www.osteopenia3.com/About-Osteopenia3.html

Newletter readers with html, the link is Contact form page.

Sincerely, Kate