Posted by Chris M. on 7/25/2008, 12:02 am, in reply to "Popped My Balloon...."
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That's a small study, but I think Helen hit the nail on the head wondering about sedentary or my question would be frailty from age and lack of exercise.
Fosamax is always accompanied with a warning to ensure you have adequate Calcium and Vit D and are doing IMPACT exercise (as in walking, weight bearing) while taking it. I always hear about the pro's and cons of taking it, but never the discussion of how much exercise you do that is "impact".
The point is: bones only repair themselves when they are stressed sufficiently to make the bone need to start to rebuild. The med is intended to stall the bone distructing "blasts" so the restructuring bone cells can work at rebuilding the bones. That's an oversimplification, but obviously the instructions are often overlooked.
I can see them now, like my dear frail Grand Aunt, who walked (tiptoed, I dare say)between her bed and living room, and back to her kitchen a few times a day to "get her exercise." Bone medicine wouldn't have helped her and indeed she died of a hip fracture with secondary infection after surgery.
To have a comment that Fosamax type med hasn't helped these folks doesn't suprise me, but the anxiousness to publish such a limited conclusion.
Forewarned, it is. But I sure hope the next study includes elderly folk who actually do impact exercise, and do include an adequate blood level of Calcium and Vit D.
As Helen suggests, there are tests which can be done, but I think the main question is: Do you do adequate impact exercise to justify the use of the med?
P.S. apparently too, it took 6 yrs or so to get there....If you are exercising, I bet you don't have to worry. I'm sure the Astronaughts have already done this study but who knows if they ever publish such studies. I do know they spend a lot of time on board exercising, impact exercising at that.
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