Most of us recognize osteoporosis as the potentially crippling, even deadly, condition it is. Women still deliberate about hormone replacement therapy to increase bone strength. Men and women scrutinize calcium supplement labels with or without magnesium so they don’t succumb to loss of bone mineral density and run the risk of breaking a hip because they weren’t strong enough to step down from a curb without falling.

Then there are the many prescription drugs usually recommended to patients who show bone density loss on the bone density scan. Most of them, such as Fosamax, belong to the bisphosphonate category only now we’re told that prolong use of these drugs have negative and serious side effects.

What I am amazed at is that one of and what seems to me the most beneficial way of protecting our bones is strength training or lifting weights. Yet it is this activity that receives the least amount of notice.Performing a handful of strength-training exercises two times a week can help build bone mass let alone maintain it. Moreover, weight training can help reverse other physical problems associated with aging including loss of muscle mass and increased body fat.

I am a strong believer in preventing disease and negative physical conditions. Unlike the pharmaceuticals, however, I’m not convinced I should be taking a prescription drug to prevent bone loss. The drugs are always inhibiting my body from doing something or fooling it into doing something else. What if I were to work naturally with my body such as doing strength exercises?

Do you think taking a prescription drug to prevent osoteoporosis is okay? I suppose it could be depending upon the person and how much the negative side effects impact them.  What are your thoughts? Post your comments and let us know.

To your successful aging,

Ruthan Brodsky

Filed under: Fitness and Nutrition • Treatment

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