Here’s how you can protect yourself—without dangerous drugs!
After decades of administering questionable and mostly useless bone density tests, mainstream doctors finally know how to spot the women who are really at risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures.
And it was hiding in plain sight all along.
A large new study found that women who experience some of the most common symptoms of menopause have nearly double the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures compared to women who don’t have these symptoms.1
The good news is, you can build strong bones both pre- and post-menopause—without the phony tests mainstream medicine uses to assess bone density. And without the toxic drugs that actually poison cells that are critical for bone health.
In fact, in just a moment, I’ll tell you about a simple, safe, natural protocol that supports healthy, strong bones using nutrients your whole body needs.
But first, let’s take a closer look at this new study, and what some very common menopause symptoms are really telling you.
Hot flashes and night sweats can nearly double your risk of bone fractures
The study followed 23,573 women, ages 50 to 79 years (none of whom used menopausal hormone replacement therapy).
Researchers collected data revealing that about 60 percent of the women experienced vasomotor symptoms (VMS) such as hot flashes and night sweats during pre- and peri-menopause.
They contrasted those findings with data showing that during the post-menopausal period, about 30 percent of the women developed osteoporosis (a condition in which bones become less dense, weaker, and more likely to break). And among those women with osteoporosis, at least 40 percent eventually had bone fractures.
Based on all of this data, the researchers were able to make a striking conclusion: Women who experience VMS lose bone density at a much faster rate, which nearly doubles the risk of bone fracture. And once they have an initial fracture, they’ll have an 86 percent risk of a second fracture.
The culprit is changing estrogen levels.
You see, bone is exquisitely sensitive to the effects of estrogen throughout women’s lives. And menopausal symptoms are an important sign of hormonal imbalances. So the same hormonal imbalances that cause common symptoms like night sweats and hot flashes also lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is, there are some simple, natural, and effective steps you can take to improve your bone health, without toxic drugs. I wrote about this topic in detail in the January issue of Insiders’ Cures, but for a quick reference, see my prescription for optimum bone health in the sidebar on page X.
In the meantime, keep reading to find out why following the mainstream bone-building protocol may be the worst thing you can do.
The “new” discovery 24 years in the making
The new study revealing this link between menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis is actually part of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial initiated by the National Institutes of Health in 1991. I worked on starting to put this study cohort together back in the mid-1980s while I was still at NIH.
So WHI research has been active for nearly a quarter century. Yet, until now, doctors and medical researchers never knew whether VMS symptoms were actually associated with osteoporosis and bone fractures. Despite the fact that the hormonal mechanisms are biologically linked.
The lag time in this important discovery is certainly disturbing—but not really surprising.
As I have warned before, don’t expect medical specialists who deal with bones to really understand basic bone biology. As evidenced by the ridiculous tests and drugs they come up with.
Indeed, mainstream medicine likes to measure make-believe numbers to assess bone density in women, and then prescribe drugs that actually poison one of the two types of cells that are critical for bone health.
I have tried looking into the way these supposed experts measure bone density, and it honestly doesn’t make sense to me based upon what I know about bone biology.
But as an anthropologist, pathologist, and physician, I have figured out the problems with bone density drugs. Basically, they take a dangerous shortcut in order to create the illusion of building denser bones.
These drugs “work” by poisoning osteoclast bone cells. The osteoclasts are needed to remove old, dead bone tissue so it can be replaced with new, vital bone by the second type of bone cells, called osteoblasts. Like every other tissue in the body, bone is alive. So continually replacing the old bone tissue with new cells keeps our bones healthy.
But bone density drugs interfere with this natural process. Instead, they leave behind old, dead bone tissue, while the osteoblasts work to create new bone on top of it. It is like building a new house on a rotten foundation. What they “don’t know bones about” can hurt you—a lot.
So although semi-fictitious bone density measurements show that drug-treated bones are more “dense,” they are not healthy. And, not surprisingly, these drugs do not appear to reduce the risk of bone fracture (as I reported in the January issue of Insiders’ Cures). Which is the whole point of doing bone density measurements and prescribing bone density drugs in the first place.
But now you know better. Just say no to these drugs, and follow my recommendations for healthy bones. Especially if you’re one of the millions of women who suffer from hot flashes or night sweats.
SIDEBAR:
Your safe, natural “prescription” for healthy bones
The following nutrients will help you support and nourish bone cells—which ultimately produces strong and healthy bones. All without the dangerous side effects of osteoporosis drugs.
Vitamin C. 500 mg per day.
Vitamin D. 5,000 IU daily.
Vitamin E. 50 IU a day.
Vitamin K2. Fermented dairy foods like cheese, yogurt, and soy offer more potent and consistent sources of this vitamin than supplements do.
Boron. 5 mg per day.
Calcium. Get this from food sources like dairy, eggs, fish, and meat, rather than supplements.
Magnesium: 150-200 mg a day.
It is also important to stay physically active, because bone cells respond to the mild stresses and strains in healthy bones that accompany normal exercise and movement. But make sure not to over-exercise, as I explain on page X.
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The drug-free, risk-free way to manage maddening menopause symptoms
As you’ve seen here, you can reduce your risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures without dangerous drugs. But what about the menopausal symptoms found to increase that risk?
Indeed, hot flashes can be so burdensome to some women they often go to extreme lengths to find relief. But like osteoporosis medications, the most common mainstream method to control menopausal symptoms—estrogen replacement therapy—is fraught with dangers. It has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, blood clots, and even cancer. And other mainstream options—including antidepressants and anti-seizure medications—are no better for you.
But a study published in 2013 in the journal Menopause found that there is a completely drug-free—and risk-free—approach that can offer significant relief from hot flashes.
Researchers found that postmenopausal women who learned a technique called applied relaxation were able to prevent an average of five hot flashes a day!2
Applied relaxation is just one way of learning how to release tension and relax muscles. And it makes sense that it would be effective in controlling hot flashes, which happen when blood suddenly flushes a particular region of the body due to rapid shifts in blood vessel tone.
The mind influences blood flow by communicating with the small muscles in arteries and adjusting the blood vessels’ tone, size, dimensions, and flow.
So learning a mind-body technique to relax the blood vessels is a perfect no-stress way to get a handle on hot flashes without the dangerous drugs.
Of course, applied relaxation is a great technique for some people. But not every relaxation technique works for every individual. The first step in finding out which mind-body relaxation technique will work best for you is to determine your personal emotional type. To find out more about your emotional type, check out my book with Mike Jawer, Your Emotional Type. In it, you’ll learn about how various personality types process emotions and stress and how it can impact your health. And you’ll also discover which therapies will actually work best to help you manage it. You can find Your Emotional Type at your local bookstore or on my website, www.drmicozzi.com.
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From bones to breast cancer—women’s health screenings fall short
The WHI research officially began in 1991, based on work I helped start while I was at the NIH during the mid-1980s. During that time, I began organizing a study similar to the WHI, based upon the tens of thousands of women who had participated in the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP).
The BCCDP was designed to measure the effectiveness of mammograms, determine optimal screening intervals, and answer other questions. I have analyzed and followed the results of mammograms for 30 years now. So when I conclude, like so many other researchers have, that (on average, in the population as a whole) mammograms simply do not save lives, I know what I am saying. Despite all the individual anecdotes from women who insist mammograms helped them. Of course, in these individual cases we will never really know for sure. That’s why we do research.
And overall, research shows mammograms are ineffective—even dangerous—for the population as a whole. They also contribute to the epidemic of over-diagnosis and over-treatment of cancers. This practice has helped feed the growing beast of today’s cancer industry.
When it comes to breast cancer screening, I recommend considering thermography over mammography. Thermography is an alternative screening test that uses no painful mechanical pressure or dangerous radiation. It’s a form of thermal (infrared) imaging, so it doesn’t damage or hurt the sensitive breast tissue as mammograms can. Plus, studies show it identifies precancerous or cancerous cells earlier. And it produces clear results, which cuts down on additional testing.
The following sources offer state-by-state lists of breast thermography centers:
- The American College of Clinical Thermology, thermologyonline.org (click on the “Clinics” tab at the top of the page)
- The International Academy of Clinical Thermology, iact-org.org (click on “Links to Qualified Thermography Centers” at the top right-hand corner of the page)
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Sources:
1 “Associations of Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms with Fracture Incidence.” Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2015; 100(2): 524-534
2 “Effects of applied relaxation on vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial,” Menopause. 2013; 20(4): 401-408