Colorado Springs Functional Medicine

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The Bone Density – Calcium Scam

Bone density is often a concern I field questions about in my clinic.  It often starts with, “I take calcium from my doctor and get plenty of dairy yet my bone scans come back that I’m at risk for osteoporosis.  Should I take MORE calcium?”

If everyone is doing it and it’s not working, should you continue to do MORE of what everyone is doing?  Ditch the calcium-builds-bone-density manta.  It was invented by the dairy lobby to get you to drink more milk.  It’s not working.  Instead, look to your hormones and other aspects of lifestyle and we’ll discuss why dairy doesn’t do a body good.

Insulin

If there’s one hormone that can set you up for success or failure, it’s insulin.  What does insulin have to do with bone density?  Let’s discuss a bit.

Bone strength is built and maintained be a process called osteogenesis.  There are 2 main cells in the bones that regulate the strength.  Don’t confuse bone density with bone strength.  You don’t confuse dense people with smart people, right?

In bones, you have 2 types of cells.  Cells that build bones and cells that take away bones.  Your skeleton is constantly remodeling and looks more like a thick loofa sponge than a steel rod.  Your bones are porous and this is necessary so blood vessels can weave inside and provide nutrients to the bone.

The drugs that are used to treat bone density issues interfere with the cells that take bone away.  What this leaves is a bone with cells that keep building, but very limited bone remodeling.  The bone gets ‘thicker and thicker’ but this doesn’t mean it’s stronger.  If the bone thickens and doesn’t allow for those tiny channels to allow blood supply through the bone, you’re essentially killing the bone off long term.  Do you think the only people that brake their hip are the ones that don’t take osteoporosis drugs?

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Life Expectancy Dogma

Life Expectancy Dogma

I had posted this info graphic on my Facebook page the other day from the Immunity Education Group.  It has been shared and liked and commented on by many people.  As I read the comments, I was waiting for the one commenter, usually male, that claims to be ‘science’ based.  Without a hiccup, it happened.  A gentleman named Troy filled the role.

Life expectancy dogma

Funny that…your level of understanding of life expectancy in relation to the implementation of vaccines is the biggest piece of BS logic based on dogma.  But it’s not your fault, your spoon fed, ‘science’ based, information comes from the media sources that are funded by the very companies that make the vaccines.  Of course they want you to believe that vaccines saved the world from dismal death rates.

Average Life Expectancy

Average life expectancy is just that, an average.  If 1 person lives until 80 years old and another person dies at 2 years old, then the average life expectancy rate is 41 years old.  It doesn’t mean that everyone had a midlife crisis as they approached their 18th birthday.

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Those Lab Values Suck

I had a woman contact me the other day.  She is 7-8 months pregnant and on her third pregnancy.  The first two have been fantastic and the kids have rockstar health.  This third pregnancy, she has been feeling more fatigued than the other two.  She was just attributing it to being a stay-at-home mom with two other toddlers and the physical and emotional load from chasing them all day.

At her last pre-natal appointment, the baby had a minor heart arrhythmia.  After having two pregnancies with no worries at all, this raised her concern a bit.  Truthfully she was freaked out.  At her previous appointment, some routine lab work was done.  With the increased fatigue and now a fetal heart arrhythmia with the baby, I said, “get me those labs.”  She said, “Why, my provider said everything looked fine.”  I said, “Those lab values suck.”

Those Lab Values Suck

Your labs suckWhen you look at the image, you will see all the different analytes measured.  On the right side, you will see the reference ranges.  I can’t stress enough that these values lump 95% of the population into the ‘normal and healthy’ category.  With 70-80% of healthcare claims are for chronic illness, there’s no feasible possibility or probability that 95% of the population is ‘normal and healthy.’

In the middle of the image, you will see the ‘out of range’ values.  For this woman, there were 3 values ‘out of range.’  Glucose, albumin, and immature granulocytes.  Her provider said that low albumin is often seen in pregnancy and is not a big concern.  I beg to differ.  Yes, low albumin is often seen in pregnancy but shouldn’t be swept under the rug.  Albumin is the main constituent protein in the blood.  It serves to transport hormones, vitamins, minerals,fatty acids, enzymes, amino acids, and drugs.

Yes, it may be low in pregnancy but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.  For that one value, think of the implications for mom and baby.  If there isn’t enough carriers for all the building blocks for the baby to develop as well as to provide mom the essentials for survival, is it a wonder mom is overly fatigued and baby has an arrhythmia?  I digress.

If we are going to use labs as a tool to assess prevention, then we have to analyze it in a range that is preventative. Click To Tweet

On the image, you will also see some hand writing.  That’s my assessment for your viewing pleasure.  When I do a lab analysis, I import the values into a spreadsheet for easy tracking and meticulously write a report on all the intricacies of everything.  To make my point here, I wrote on the actual labs.  You will see I have flagged 15 values.

The point isn’t to freak mom out anymore than she is but to uncover hidden dysfunctions that get labeled as ‘normal,’ that would explain why she is fatigued as well as the baby having an arrhythmia.

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