Read this book even if you don’t have Osteoporosis….
It was 1994 when Dr. Lani Simpson decided to accept a colleague’s offer to try out his new DXA* scanner, the latest, greatest technology for bone density testing. As a chiropractor and osteology instructor, Lani had been teaching others about bone and joint health for years. So when her own bone scan came back as osteopenia (low bone density), she was stunned. Her diet and exercise regimens were great, she was physically strong and she had never broken a bone. Something didn’t seem right.
But the results of a second scan a week later were even worse, placing her in the osteoporosis category. Now, at the relatively young age of 45 she was labeled with a disease she had always associated with old age.
A fracture waiting to happen.
She remembers driving home, sobbing all the way. “I was terrified, and this new diagnosis made me feel physically weak.” To make matters worse Lani had no idea how serious her condition actually was, or what it meant on a practical level. Would she have to give up tennis, biking, and rollerskating? Was she nothing more than a fracture waiting to happen? The consequences to her life and sense of self were dire, but at the same time she had doubts about the diagnosis.
It just didn’t add up.
Yes, DXA scanning was considered to be the gold standard of bone density measurement but it was evident from the difference between her own two scan scores of a good ten percent, that the procedure itself could be inaccurate. It was then that Lani resolved to learn everything she could about bone health, osteoporosis, and DXA testing.
The result of her discoveries make compelling reading; among them:
- Bone testing errors are extremely common (Not all states require bone density technicians to be trained, and no states require training in interpretation of results!)
- Osteoporosis medications tend to be overrated and overprescribed
- Nutrition and Gastrointestinal health are essentially omitted from most osteoporosis treatment plans
In a nutshell, Lani concludes that the standard approach to osteoporosis assessment and treatment is “woefully inadequate,” but the book does not undermine the value of testing or treatment. Rather its aim is to give readers the information they need to get more accurate test results and more integrative treatment options than medications alone.
The bone building lifestyle.
Some risk factors for osteoporosis like age, height, and skeletal frame size cannot be changed, but a great many more can be mitigated with proper nutrition, GI health improvement, and bone building exercises. Dr. Lani’s book, as the title promises, is an effective “no-nonsense guide” for putting these essential pieces of a ‘bone-building lifestyle’ into place.
The "Healthy Bone, Healthy Hormone" connection.
A major area of concern for integrative practitioners who specialize in bone health is the hormone connection to bone growth and maintenance. From HGH (human growth hormone) and calcium regulating hormones to the key sex and adrenal hormones (estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, testosterone and cortisol), the book emphasizes how testing hormone levels can help to detect and correct imbalances linked to bone loss. Click here for the Male/Female Saliva Profile III.
Of particular interest to mid-life adults prone to shifting hormone levels, the attentive reader will gain a deeper understanding of the importance of hormonal balance—and how the lack of it can make or break bone health.
For anyone with a skeleton.
This book is not just for readers with osteoporosis. It is not just for the elderly or those reaching the end of middle age. It is a book for people of all ages, “for anyone with a skeleton,” as Dr. Lani puts it, “because the lifestyle choices we make throughout our lives have a direct impact on how healthy our bones will be when we’re older – and because it is much easier to prevent osteoporosis than to reverse it.”
Watch Dr. Lani's Hormones & Healthy Bones webinar by clicking here.
*(dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry)
