Osteoporosis

This is the term used to describe the loss of bone mass and of calcium, which results in brittle bones that are liable to fracture. Osteoporosis constitutes a 'silent menace' to one quarter of post-menopausal women, involving thousands of cases per year of compressed spinal column, wrist fractures, and femur fractures.

Fractures caused by osteoporosis primarily affect the vertebrae and wrists among people aged between 65 and 74. For those aged over 80, the upper femur

is the most likely site for such injuries. A bone densitometry test can provide you with an accurate, reliable, and sensitive measurement of bone mass.

Preventive measures

• A daily supply of calcium in the diet from childhood onwards
• Regular, moderate physical exercise
• Giving up cigarettes and alcohol
• A daily supply of calcium and vitamin D for elderly people
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Bone calcium is enriched by a moderate exercise regimen of one hour three times a week. If you over-train, you will actually cause calcium to leach from the bones.

Dietary advice

• Limit the amount of meat and animal products you eat
• Eliminate margarine and vegetable fats, and use a little butter instead
• Take one tablespoonful per day of a mixture of olive and rapeseed oils
• Include oily fish regularly in your diet

The trace element for bones

Calcium

You can get most of what you need from cheese and dairy products, as well as from mineral water (Volvic, Vittel). Adults require about 800mg of calcium per day, but older people need 1,500mg

Calcium found in dairy products

One glass of semi-skimmed milk (250ml) contains 370mg
One portion (50g) of Cheddar cheese: 360mg
One portion of Gruyere cheese :250mg
One portion of Gouda: 225mg
One pot of yoghurt: 160- 190mg
One portion of goat's cheese: 30-50mg

Calcium found in still mineral water brands

Talians: 596mg per litre
Hepar: 555mg per litre
Contrex: 486mg per litre
Vittel: 202mg per litre
Ashe Park 122mg per litre
Evian 78mg per litre
Volvic 115mg per litre
Panna 32mg per litre
Hghland Spring 35mg per litre

Calcium found in sparkling mineral water brands

Salvetat: 253mg per litre
Quezac: 241 mg per litre
Badoit: 190mg per litre
Perrier: 14 mg per litre
Pellegrino 208mg per litre
Highland Spring 35mg per litre
Ashbrook 14mg per litre

• You could also try Chewable Calcium with Vitamin D and FOS tablets(Lamberts), each of which contains 400mg of calcium:
  - Sold in containers of 60 tablets, to be sucked
  l- One to two tablets to be taken per day. For adults. Children (4 years and over) chew one tablet daily

The vitamin for osteoporosis

Vitamin D

Dietary sources of vitamin D

'The best sources of this vitamin are to be found in oily fish liver (such as that of halibut and cod), eggs, cheese (such as Brie and Emmental), and meat.

• You can take Oscap plus (Thorne), which contains vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, boron, horsetail. vanadium, ipriflavone, folate, vitamin K, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12:
  - Available in containers of 180 capsules
  - Take two capsules three times daily

We can get up to 800mg of calcium per day from our diet, but this is insufficient for our increased needs in old age. And while sunlight and diet together can provide 5mcg of vitamin D, sunlight is not always available and our diet alone will provide only up to 2.5mcg of the vitamin, which is also insufficient. Thus, it is quite easy (and common) to suffer from a double deficiency, which only weakens the bones further.

Homeopathy

Silicea

- Two 7c pills to be sucked slowly like sweets, once a day for several weeks

Silicea

- Mineral origin: pure silica, which used to be extracted from quartz
- The homeopathic remedy for mineral loss
- Two typical indications: a tendency to tire easily (both physically and mentally), and a sensitivity to cold

• You could also try New Era Silica tissue salt, which contains Silicea 6x:
  - Available in containers of 450 tablets
  - Adults dissolve four tablets under tongue; children take two tablets. three doses to be taken daily
• It is also important that you combine these treatments with a constitutional remedy, to be chosen after consultation with a professional homeopath. Some likely choices are Calcaria phosphorica and Sulfur iodatum

Herbal remedies

Horsetail is known for its ability to restore minerals.

Possible Prescription: ask your herbalist to make up a 60ml bottle of this herb in a whole fresh-plant suspension (this formulation's cold stabilization process restores the full natural therapeutic effect of the plant). Take half a teaspoonful in a little water twice a day.

Horsetail

This plant does not flower, but reproduces by means of spores. Its long, fluted stem is the source of its active principles, the most important of which is silica. In fact, horsetail is one of the best sources of plant minerals we know of. In the past, the plant was attached to horses' tails to help the animals drive off flies, hence its name.