Osteoporosis & Osteopenia

Are pharmaceuticals really your only option?

Mom & Dad Summer 2023 Age 77 and 86

This is a story about my mom’s experience with osteoporosis. This is not medical advice; it is just a discussion of other options rarely discussed and likely never discussed by your general physician. However, I will reveal the protocol I put her on after she had some severe side effects from an osteoporosis pharmaceutical.

I want you to follow Dr. Doug Lucas, a former orthopedic surgeon and now a regenerative medicine physician specializing in osteoporosis. His YouTube is brilliant and you’ll get so much free information from it: www.youtube.com/@Dr_DougLucas. You can find him anywhere on social media and he released a book called “The Osteoporosis Breakthrough: The Natural Way to Reverse Causes of Bone Loss and Build Strong Bones!”. I recorded a couple of amazing podcasts with him as well.

Here is one below. Please follow Sandy K Nutrition Health & Lifestyle Queen Podcast on any podcasting platform:

My mom, at age 52, underwent chemotherapy and radiation for non-hodgkins lymphoma. This occurred right around menopause when bone loss can often begin. Some research indicates chemotherapy might cause bone loss. Have a read of this research article:

https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2020/bone-loss-chemotherapy-senescence#:~:text=Exposure%20to%20chemotherapy%20and%20radiation,risk%20of%20osteoporosis%20and%20fractures.

Osteoporosis is no joke, and there are so many causative factors which can put you at risk, including:

• Frailty. If you have a petite frame, this alone puts you at a greater risk.

• A diet that cuts out entire food groups and/or extreme dieting. Bottom line: If you don’t eat enough, cut out food groups instead of eating a balanced diet with a variety of foods or restrict food, you will be at a greater risk.

• If your mother has/had osteoporosis, this puts you at a greater risk. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17466098/

• Vegans are more at risk for osteoporosis. If you don’t eat enough animal protein, this puts you at risk. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10097387/

• Drugs like Ozempic put you at risk for bone loss - https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/06/25/weight-loss-drugs-like-ozempic-could-reduce-bone-density-study-suggests/#. All you Real Housewives who don’t want to do the work to lose those 5-10 lbs and take Ozempic instead, unfortunately you’re not looking at the long-term risks. There is a place for Ozempic - obesity and diabetes. Not to easily lose those 10 lbs. Ensure you’re within those true parameters if you care about bone health as you age.

• If you’ve had chemotherapy this may cause the bones to weaken as well.

• Unoptimized hormones - this is why so many women are diagnosed around menopause. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8836058/#:~:text=Osteoporosis%20is%20a%20serious%20health,bone%20resorption%20and%20bone%20formation.

There may be more factors involved, but these are the main ones.

Now, for my mom’s results. She’s now 78 and has osteopenia, later osteoporosis, since age 53 after undergoing chemotherapy and radiation from non-hodgkin’s lymphoma. The results are pretty astounding. She tried Prolia, the injectable drug, for two years every 6 months and ended up in the emergency room with heart palpitations, and she had also developed a chronic cough. She stopped the drug.

---

Here are her t-score results:

Hip: Age 53 (approx one year after chemotherapy & radiation): -1.7 (this was her worst hip score).

Age 77: -0.9

Spine: Age 53: -2.7

Worst was at age 70 at -3.9

Age 77: -2.9

At this age 77 (she turned 78 right after this scan), her t-scores are better or close to what they were at age 53.

Here is a simple diagram so you can see the spectrum for T-scores.

---

My mom’s protocol that I researched and started her on just over 3 years ago (sometime around age 74):