The New York Times had an article on March 24 about bisphosphonate drugs being linked to the snapping of the femur bone in relatively young women.
After 4 years of telling you about the dangers of these bone drugs I’m probably preaching to the choir and I dislike adding to the fear-mongering that is prevalent in health blogs BUT I guess it’s my job to keep you up with the latest news about this.
“The femur bone was snapping like a twig, sometimes splintering. Often there was no trauma, such as a serious fall, to bring it on. And some of the women were younger, in their 50s, with pre-osteoporosis but without the extremely fragile bones of people with the full-blown condition,” says the NYT.
The fractures are highly unusual because they are occurring in the long bone of the thigh, one of the strongest bones of the body, when ordinarily thighbone fractures occur near the hip socket. Further, because this area does not have a rich blood supply, the fractures are difficult to heal.
Bisphosphonate drugs are poison, they are being given out indescriminately to women who don’t need them and the risks are finally becoming obvious in the bodies of women. That last bit was from me, not the NYTimes. 😉 They were only tested for five years and many doctors will only prescribe them for that length of time. Since most hip fractures occur to women over 80, why are young women under 50 being put on these drugs? It doesn’t make sense. Diet, weight-bearing exercise, supplements and bio-identical hormones can all strengthen women’s bones in a way that benefits the whole body and is not poisonous to the system.
So much for the bad news. The good news is that I am totally loving the NIA dance workout that I started in February. It feels as if every cell in my body has benefitted. I am actually going to 6 classes this week, I’m getting totally addicted. It is dance with martial arts and Feldenkrais thrown in and I have an inspired teacher.
For a person who only did the rebounder in 10 minute segments because of my low boredom threshold, it is amazing to be dancing around for an hour without even noticing the time. At yoga I was always looking at the clock. Dancing NIA makes me happy and I feel more creative than I have in years also. I can honestly say I feel twenty years younger.
So find yourself a NIA class; you can do that at nianow.com and strengthen your bones the happy way.
Namaste
Pam