• Bisphosphonates (bis-fos-fo-nates) — Bisphosphonates are approved for both prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Medications in this group are also used to treat bone loss, and in some cases, can help build bone mass. For more information on the pros and cons of bisphosphonates, click here.
• SERMs — This is a class of drugs called estrogen agonists/antagonists. They are commonly referred to as selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and they are approved for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. They help slow the rate of bone loss.
• Calcitonin — Calcitonin is a naturally occurring hormone that can help slow the rate of bone loss.
• Parathyroid Hormone or Teriparatide  — Teriparatide is an injectable form of human parathyroid hormone. It helps the body build up new bone faster than the old bone cab be broken down, reduces bone loss and stimulates bone replacement.
• High Calcium Diet — Most physicians also recommend a diet which is high calcium, the use of high does calcium supplements, and the elimination of those foods and substances which inhibit bone replacement or increase the risk of osteoporosis occurring.
• Hormone Replacement Therapy (for Both Men and Women)

If you have a significant family history of osteoporosis, if you smoke, if you drink more than a minimal amount of alcohol each day, if you can’t exercise rigorously, or if you already have significant bone loss osteopenia or osteoporosis, if you have already had a non-trauma related fracture anywhere in your body or collapse of one or more vertebrae, or if you have other reasons to start hormone therapy, then you should do this as soon as is possible. If you are still able to get pregnant then use birth control pills. If you are already post menopausal then consider bio-identical replacement hormone therapy – HRT (bio-identical estrogen, progesterone, and possibly, even testosterone).

HRT is one of the most reliable and efficacious forms of treatments for both preventing, and reversing osteoporosis. We have hundreds of studies demonstrating that HRT works and is an important method of preventing and reversing osteopenia and osteoporosis. One of the most important lessons learned from these studies is that the earlier one starts using HRT the better the overall results. If you wait for bone loss to start of become advanced then HRT is less effective in preventing what has been lost and may or may to be able to help rebuild sufficient bone to make up for what has already been lost.

Another important fact often missed or not discussed. Once you start HRT you should continue on it indefinitely. Studies show that individuals who have had excellent results preventing or replacing lost bone because of using HRT, will lose these results when they stop using HRT. That is, virtually all gains will be lost with in a months or years of stopping HRT. Thus stopping HRT at any point, will cause your bones to lose calcium and bring you to the place you would have been (based on your age and other factors) as if you had never even started on HRT to begin with. This means that using HRT must be considered a lifelong commitment.

For more information on Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy for Osteoporosis, click here.

Standard Medical Treatment of Osteoporosis

Besides the use of bisphosphonates, SERM’s, calcitonin or Parathyroid hormone. Most western medical practitioners do agree that diet and exercise are important tools for preventing bone mineral loss and maintaining optimal levels of bone density. In this article were will look at a number of basic lifestyle approaches and modifications that help you prevent your bones from becoming weak, brittle and damaged:

1. Consuming Ample Amounts of Calcium in Your Daily Diet

Your bones require calcium to maintain their strength and integrity. Each day a small amount of calcium is lost as injured bone are rebuilt or old bone tissues are replaced. Because of this your body requires a constant renewal of calcium to replace all of the calcium lost each day. In order to accomplish this goal, it is important that your daily diet contains sufficient calcium for your need to replace all of the calcium which has been lost and must be replaced. Calcium can be obtained easy enough by eating the right foods or by taking a calcium supplement. There are many high calcium foods available to you art your local market as there are a number of excellent calcium supplements available at your local market, drug store, health food store or on the internet.

It is possible to get an adequate amount of calcium through the foods you eat each day. Dietary calcium is considered to be the best way to get the calcium your body needs. This is best accomplished by making high calcium foods a normal part of your daily diet, the foods you eat each and every day. Why pay for supplements, when you can use the monies you save to purchase healthy high calcium foods as well as healthy vine-ripened, certified organic foods that taste much better then you may have been used to in the past. Eating the right foods can go a long way toward helping you to maintain your overall health and well-being. If you will still need to take a calcium supplement, then we suggest that you talk with your doctor or even better a qualified nutritionist, before you start on any over-the-counter calcium supplements, This will help you not only to know and take the right amount of calcium, but also find the best supplement(s) for your needs. It is not wise to take more calcium then you actually need, as too much calcium can be injurious to your health. Depending how much calcium your doctor or nutritionist feel is right for you, reaching your goal through dietary means is always the best way to accomplish your calcium goal. If accomplishing your calcium goal is not possible through eating healthy foods alone, then it will be certainly be appropriate to reach your goal using a combination of healthy high calcium foods and appropriate supplementation.

So How Much Calcium Will I Need Each Day?

Dietary Calcium

The following is a let of common foods that are easily available at most markets. Eating these foods can help you meet your daily calcium needs. You will find it helpful to learn how to check food product labels in order to determine how much calcium is available in the foods you plan to eat.

2. Vitamin D Helps to Prevent Osteoporosis

Vitamin D is essential for strong healthy bones. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium from the food you eat. While we are commonly told that Vitamin D is produced in your skin when it is exposed to sunlight, and this is true, we know now that most adults cannot make enough vitamin D in any single day to meet all of their bodily needs for protecting their bones. Currently we are recommending an intake of 5,000 IU of vitamin D each day.

You can get sufficient vitamin D either by eating foods high in vitamin D or by taking a vitamin D supplement, or some combination of these two methods. Whether Vitamin D is ingested in the food you eat or taken as a supplement, it is measured in international units (IU). Check food labels or the label on your supplement bottle for the total IU’s of vitamin D contained in the foods you eat or the supplement(s) you normally take.

Current research suggests that most people, people of all ages, are not getting enough vitamin D in their diet nor through the supplementation they are using. Your doctor can help you make a plan for getting sufficient vitamin D for your specific needs.

Although it may be difficult to get sufficient vitamin D through food, here is a list of a few foods that possibly can help you. Remember, check the food labels for more information.

The most valuable food sources for obtaining Vitamin D are: milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified, sardines, canned in oil (drained), eggs, Swiss and cheddar cheese, mackerel, salmon, margarine, liver, beef. Other sources may include pure cod liver oil, tuna fish, fatty fish, fish liver and fish oils. They above mentioned foods can be eaten in various forms including: raw, boiled, cooked, and frozen, with or without sugar, with or without salt, drained, chopped or canned. How each food is to be served will depend on the type of food you chose. You can also have salads, spices and marjoram. There should be more importance given to the green leafy vegetables such as alfalfa, soybeans, and cauliflower.

3. Magnesium and other Essential Nutrients (Vitamins and Minerals)

Magnesium is also an extremely important mineral for preventing and treating osteoporosis. Magnesium is essential for forcing calcium into bone tissues rather than allowing it to circulate freely in the blood, or to be deposited in cholesterol plaque in the heart or brain, or as kidney or gall stones, or into forming bone spurs and local calcified lesions. Calcium along often caused constipation while magnesium is an excellent laxative. Combining magnesium with your calcium intake can help regularize bowel movements and combined they have a much greater ability to protect, prevent and reverse bone loss. Generally, they are to be used in equal amounts 1,000 mg or calcium and 1, 000 mg or magnesium.

4. Eat a Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy diet is essential for preventing and protecting against osteoporosis. We recommend a vine-ripened organic foods diet. Meats should all be lean and a wide variety of fish, poultry and white and red meats eaten.

All plant derived vitamin and mineral supplements are essential and have a value in protecting against osteopenia and osteoporosis. This is especially true for vitamin A and B complex, vitamin B12, and vitamins C, D, E, iodine, calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur, zinc, essential fatty acids, complex of digestive enzymes, friendly bacteria, and all amino acids.

There are a number of other nutrients such as boron, strontium, vanadium, vitamin K, and as well as protein and others that can help you build strong bones. Milk has many of these nutrients. So do foods like lean meats, many oily and deep water fishes, green leafy vegetables, and oranges.

For more information on vitamin-mineral and other essential nutrients see our article on Alternative and Holistic Approach to Preventing Osteoporosis.

5. Weight Bearing Exercise

One of the most important things you can do to prevent osteoporosis as well as to reverse it, is to have a regular weight bearing exercise program. Exercise, especially weight bearing exercise, is a commonly prescribed and high valuable treatment for osteoporosis. Being physically active against gravity acts to strengthen bones and prevent, even reverse osteoporosis. We know this from astronauts. In “gravity free” space osteoporosis begin immediately with accelerated bone tissue loss. Once in space, bones almost immediately start to demineralize, even when the astronaut’s perform a regular exercise program, osteoporosis continues. Only when they return to earth and are once again in a normal gravity situation, then exercise against gravity, will once again slow down, stop or reverse osteoporosis.

If any single treatment modality is essential to protecting against osteoporosis then weight-bearing exercise is that modality. The force of gravity pushing and pulling on you and your bones is essential for maintaining optimal bone health. Of the many excellent exercises that help slow down or even reverse bone loss walking is probably the best. Next, would be any exercise that either simulates or incorporates walking such as dancing, gardening, running, jogging, hiking, climbing stairs, golf, tennis, volleyball, badminton, weight training, Yoga, Tai chi and so on. Swimming while an excellent cardiovascular exercise is a gravity free type of exercise as the buoyance of the water acts to counteract gravity hence, swimming is not a good exercise for protecting against osteoporosis.

Being active helps your bones by:

• Slowing bone loss
• Improving muscle strength
• Helping your balance

Your goal here is to create and perform a regular daily program of weight bearing exercises and physical activity. All weight bearing activities will work, the main thing to remember is regular weight bearing activities are important to strengthen your bones.

6. Quit Smoking

Smoking can definitely increase your risk of developing osteoporosis. It caused harm to your bones and lowers the amount of circulating estrogen in women and testosterone in men. This is important because estrogen and testosterone are important hormones made by your body and these hormones, working individually and together, to help your body, slow down and prevent bone loss.

7. Drink Alcohol Moderately

If you drink alcohol often or excessively, you increase your risk of osteoporosis. It is best not to drink more than one alcoholic beverage drink per day. Alcohol makes it harder for your body to use the calcium you take in. Drinking too much alcohol at one time day or night, can negatively affect your balance and this can lead to falling which can, if your bones are brittle, lead to causing a fracture, hence hospitalization and also the risk of becoming an invalid.

8. Make Your Home Safe

Work to reduce your chances of falling in and around your home. Make your home and surrounding property safer. Use a rubber bath mat in the shower or tub. Keep floors free from clutter. Remove throw rugs which can cause you to trip. Make sure you have grab-support bars in the bath and shower, or anywhere you need support to prevent you from falling. If you have poor balance or walk unsteadily, use a walker and accept the help from others when it is appropriate.