Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is the disease that women in industrialized countries are most likely to develop as they age, yet most women do not realize they have osteoporosis until they fracture a bone. When they consult their doctor, they may learn they have osteoporosis after they have already lost 25% of their bone mass.

Osteoporosis is a progressive disease that diminishes the amount of bone and the bone that is left is lighter and more porous.

Bone is a living tissue that continually renews itself throughout life. There are two types of bone cells that are important to the health of the bones, osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Osteoclast cells continually travel through the bone looking for older bone in need of renewal. They dissolve or resorb the old bone leaving small spaces behinds. Osteoblasts then move into these spaces and fill these spaces with new bone. This remarkable process is referred to as remodeling and is the mechanism for the repair abilities and continuing strength of our bones. If this process is in balance, bone mass and bone strength remain constant.

Osteoporosis is most commonly the result of osteoclast dominance so that more bone is being resorbed than is being replaced. Decreased bone mass may also relate to a deficiency of a number of essential factors, such as calcium, vitamin D and magnesium.

Bone mass in women is at it highest during their early to mid thirties after which there is a gradual decline until menopause, after which the loss accelerates for three to five years and then typically continues at an average rate of 1.5% annually.

Estrogen is often prescribed by medical practitioners to help prevent osteoporosis after menopause. Medical studies seem to indicate that the action of estrogen in relation to osteoporosis only relates to the effect it has on osteoclasts. Estrogen supplementation slows down osteoclast activity so that old bone stays in the bone longer. Unfortunately, estrogen supplementation carries with it some undesirable and serious side effects which need to be considered. The effect of estrogen supplementation in slowing down osteoporosis seems to be effective for about five years after menopause after which bone loss resumes at the same rate as those not on estrogen.

Osteoporosis presents a huge opportunity for drug companies to sell their synthetic versions of drugs to combat osteoporosis, yet the most remarkable results ever achieved in preventing and reversing osteoporosis are those that have been achieved by medical practitioners who treat their patients with natural progesterone cream. Progesterone cream works by sensitizing and increasing the activity of the osteoblast cells and thus new bone is made. Medical practitioners are typically achieving a 15% increase in bone mass and bone mineral density in the first year of using natural progesterone. The effective of natural progesterone in treating osteoporosis is not age related. Remarkably, it has the same bone stimulating effect on a women of 100 years as it does on a 40 or 50 year old.