Tag Archives: bone health

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Supporting Bone Remodeling

In my last post we considered the process of bone remodeling.  We saw how old bone is literally nibbled away by osteoclasts  preparing the way for osteoblasts to come behind and lay down a collagen matrix  for new bone with a fresh supply of calcium.  We also saw how estrogen regulates this process by helping osteoclasts die (apoptosis)  as they complete their jobs of resorption, thereby maintaining the ratio between these two bone workhorse cells. We looked at the roles Vitamin D and the Parathyroid hormones play in stimulating osteoclast activity and the release of calcium and phosphorus from the bones into the blood, and how they facilitate calcium resorption in the kidneys.

 So, there’s a whole lot of activity in the bone remodeling process going on daily in your body completing a cycle in 100-day, yet taking seven years to completely rebuild every bone in your skeletal system.  Basically, we have a new frame and muscular system every seven years, which is quite amazing!  I’ve now been through nine bodies and starting on my tenth one.  

We also looked at how osteopenia and osteoporosis occur when the net rate of bone resorption exceeds the rate of bone formation, resulting in a decrease in bone mass, and the role that estrogen and testosterone deficiencies play in this degenerative process.  Then we reviewed the medical approach to this condition with drug intervention. Fosamax (alendronate) is the drug of choice.  However, its mechanism of action is deceiving, to say the least, and debilitating at worst, often causing brittle bones that fracture and jaw bone necrosis in the long run. Hormone replacement therapy is also popular, but not without some risks.  

A MORE NATURAL APPROACH

This brings us to the subject of this article: Supporting Bone Remodeling.  As we saw is a previous article, bones are made up of a lot more than just calcium.  They’re made of vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and protein.  Taking calcium tablets alone, then, is not enough to feed your bones, especially if you’re taking calcium carbonate, the cheapest and most useless form of calcium on the market.  

By the way, there’s plenty of calcium in the blood stream just from the process of bone resorption, if you stop to think about it.  The key is to get it out of the blood and into the tissues and bones. We’ll talk about that shortly.  What isn’t used up as muscle fuel is recycled back into the bones.  What cannot be used at all is thrown out through the hair and nails giving them their white color. As we age the hair turns white with calcium as bone resorption is accelerated faster than the calcium can be used, as well as other reason related to mineral ratios and balance. I talk about this ratio in an earlier blog post. But I’ll cover the subject again in a future article.

Borrowing from a previous post to refresh our memories and to show that bone building is not all about calcium . . .

Minerals present in bone are: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, silica, iron, zinc, selenium, baron, sulphur, chromium, and dozens of others.  In order for bones to absorb the minerals Vitamin D must be present.  Collagen is also part of the bone and provides a matrix for bone formation.

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR BONE REMODELING SUPPORT:

1.) First, stop the leaks. Then start getting calcium into the bones. I use Biost by Standard Process Labs (SPL). Biost is a bone protomorphogen (nucleic protein molecule of bone cells).  It supplies the enzyme phosphatase which the body needs in order to metabolize the raw materials that compose bony tissue.  Phosphatase also transports calcium from the blood into the bones.  

Note: For men with enlarged prostates, (prostate hypertrophy), I use Prost-X because it contains phosphatase which also gets calcium into the prostate gland as well as the bones.  The prostate will enlarge if it lacks calcium.

2.) Feed your bones.  And what better to feed them with than raw bone meal . . . not dead and cooked commercial grade bone meal which is calcium carbonate  (good for your lily bulbs but not for your bones).  Raw bone meal has all the ingredients for bone remodeling.  I use Calcifood Wafers (SPL) when I want immediate support of raw material in severe cases of osteoporosis. Note: Dentists have used Calcifood and Biost for loose teeth with fine results because they rebuild the bone around the teeth.   

3.) A simple and daily supply of nutrient-rich whole foods that have the vitamins and minerals needed to build bones, especially dark green leafy vegetables like fresh raw spinach. This would include vegetables organically grown in mineral-rich soil.  You can tell that if they’re sweet.  It also includes at least 15 – 20 minutes of sunshine on the skin daily for Vitamin D, along with plenty of essential poly-unsaturated fatty acids (EFA’s) in the skin to give the sunshine something with which to make Vitamin D and carry calcium into the tissues. For those who don’t get enough sunshine, you can supplement with Cataplex D (SPL).

To supplement I use SPL’s multiple wholefood formulations of Catalyn, Organic Bound Minerals, Trace Minerals B12, and SUPER-EFF, a converted form of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids essential to the transportation of calcium from the blood into the tissues.

Note: EFA’s need to be converted in the liver to arachidonic acid to be of benefit. A person with a degenerative disease has a bad liver or else he wouldn’t have a degenerative disease.  So he can’t convert EFA’s to arachidonic acid.  SUPER-EFF fills the need here. 

For severe degenerative conditions in all tissues, including nerve degeneration in multiple sclerosis, muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy,  and bone degeneration in rheumatoid arthritis, even in cancer,  SUPER-EFF is a converted form of polyunsaturated fatty acids and therefore readily useful in rebuilding these tissues. 

4.) Support for the four major endocrine players in female and male hormonal chemistry.  They are the pituitary gland, the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the adrenal glands, and, last but not least, the gonadal glands (ovaries and testes).  I use Symplex F and Symplex M  by SP with superb results. 

5.) Probably of utmost importance these days is support for the stress-response system’s central regulator, the hypothalamus.  I use Hypothalmex  (SPL) for support.   More about this below.

6.) Support the Thyroid and Parathyroid glands with iodine from organic minerals and Cal-Ma-Plus (SPL) which has parathyroid desiccate to enhance the absorption of calcium.  (Note: Soy products slow down the thyroid.)

7.) If you’re over 45 years of age, you would be wise to supplement with Betaine Hydrochloride tablets (SP).  We seem to produce less of it as we age.  Hydrochloric acid, besides being necessary for digestion of proteins in the stomach,  is essential in the assimilation and absorption of calcium, which needs a more acidic condition in the colon for proper absorption.  Betaine Hydrochloride provides that pH factor for calcium.  If you’re having “acid indigestion” take 2 Zypan (SPL) with meals and take care of those “heart burns” after meals while getting your Betaine Hydrochloride at the same time. 

8.) Herbal support for remodeling ageing bones, particularly in mature women.  I use Bone Complex by Medi-Herb (SPL subsidiary). 

9.) Weight bearing exercise to stimulate bone cell growth and calcium absorption into the bones.  Exercise at least 4 days each week.

Watch this short video clip:

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS AND ADRENALS IN STRESS MANAGEMENT

Situated beneath the brain, the hypothalamus regulates the homeostatic relationship between you and your environment, starting with the most immediate environment, your physical body with its myriad organic functions and complex chemistry that changes with every emotional upset, mental stress and physical activity.  This critical connection between your central nervous system and your hormonal glands is crucial to homeostasis, and I am deeply concerned that this singular link between environmental stress and our ability to adapt is being overlooked in our healthcare.  

Thanks to our ability to “talk” with the body through kinesiology (muscle testing), the functional health of the hypothalamus can be easily monitored.  Interestingly enough (I notice these things), since the bombing of the World Trade Center and the subsequent activation of our Homeland Security Alert system, I have noticed an increase in the incidence of hypothalamus issues in my practice.  There’s good reason for this.  It’s a consequence of chronic stress.

Fear of terrorist attacks has been hanging over our heads for ten years and we’ve become frozen in a chronic fight or flight stress response.  In chronic stress, the hypothalamus becomes frustrated confused and the adrenal glands exhausted.  Basically, we have a stress factor that won’t go away.  The hypothalamus tells the adrenal glands to pump adrenaline into the blood stream so we can fight the threat and eliminate it or else run away from it.  When we can’t personally do either, the system becomes frustrated and the glands overworked to the point of exhaustion.  Our blood stream becomes saturated with cortisol, the stress hormone, throwing our hormonal system out of balance.  When hormone chemistry becomes imbalanced, nothing is going to function normally in the body because every cell of every organ and tissue in the body depends on adrenalin. Malnutrition and severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies themselves can trigger and maintain a stress response.

What to do?

Well, there is something we can do.  First we can put a filter on our perception of the world through the eyes of the media.  Next find your centering in love and be at Home in your skin.  Home is safe.  No one can touch you there.  Even if your body got blown up you would remain safe at Home.  Home is within you, not around you.  That’s your house. 

Finally, increase your production of oxytocin, the feel-good “hormone of love,” produced in the hypothalamus with hugging, laughter and other pleasurable experiences such as listening to beautiful music and toning the vowel sound “AH,” touching and being touched by another, giving and receiving a massage, spinal adjustments and manipulation of the joints by a chiropractor or osteopath, erotic play and sexual orgasm, breast feeding if you’ve just delivered a newborn – which itself produces oxytocin and makes childbirth a pleasurable, even orgasmic, experience. Oxytocin turns off the flight or fight stress response to calm you down.  Oxytocin spray is also available, but read about its side effects online first. It appears to increase one’s trust in people, but not everyone, just those in your clan.  ” Psychologists trying to specify its role have now concluded it is the agent of ethnocentrism.” Too much of anything good seems to always have a dark side.  Less is more in most cases. 

CONSULT FOR DOSAGES AND HEALTH COACHING

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to nutritional supplementation, so I highly recommend professional guidance.  I am available by phone or email for a modest coaching fee.  My cell phone is (337) 802-5510 and my email address is tpal70@gmail.com.  Call or email me.  I’ll even supply you with supplements tailored to fit your needs – and if you are a subscriber you’ll enjoy a 10% discount on supplements. Let’s get your bones back to health and keep them dense and strong.

To your health and healing, 

Dr. Tony Palombo

Visit my other blog for inspired reading about the Significance of the Pineal Gland.

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Bone Remodeling and Osteoporosis

To understand osteoporosis and the popular medical “remedy” Fosamax, it is necessary to understand the process of bone remodeling.  And, yes, bones do remodel themselves.  The cycle takes 100 days.  It occurs throughout life through a regulated process of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption coupled to osteoblast-mediated bone formation.

BONE REMODELING

Now, let me walk you through the process in terms easily grasped by the layman.  Bone is a dynamic tissue that is constantly being resorbed and remodeled.  As with all organs and tissues of the body, muscular and skeletal included, the cells that compose them die and are replaced, resulting in a renewal of these organs and tissues in cycles that are determined  by their use, wear and tear.  For example, the hardest working muscle in the body, the heart, is replaced cell by cell, on an average, every thirty days.  The next most used organ, the stomach, is replaced over a period of ninety days; the remaining organs approximately every twelve months.  Your skeletal and muscular systems, however, take much longer to replace themselves — seven years on an average.

What happens is simple: bone cells and the collagen that holds them in place are dissolved and the minerals that comprise the bone cells are reclaimed in a process called “resorption.”  This is done by little workhorses called “osteoclasts.” These demolition cells, literally bone-breakers by derivation, are regulated by estrogen in women and estrogen converted testosterone in men.

Osteoblasts are cells that lay down the collagen matrix for bone remodeling. In a word, they replace bone cells after they are demolished by the osteoclasts.

THE ROLE OF ESTROGEN (Estrodiol)

In simple terms, the estrogen hormone estrodiol brings on the death (apoptosis) of the osteoclast cell once its role is completed.  It simply attaches a protein molecule called Fas Ligand, that is programmed to kill cells that fail to perform their function. This allows a balance between the breaking down process and the rebuilding process of bone tissue by “osteoblasts.”   In this sense, estrogen plays a protective role in bone health.  In technical terms, estrogen induces a paracrine signal (endocrine hormone messenger) originating in osteoblasts that leads to the death of pre-osteoclasts, thereby regulating bone resorption and remodeling.

THE ROLE OF THE PARATHYROID GLANDS

The Thyroid Gland’s production of hormones is activated by the Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) produced by the Pituitary Gland. Parathyroid hormones (PTH) produced by the 4 parathyroid glands, located on the backside of the thyroid gland, stimulates Calcium and Phosphate release from bone, thereby increasing blood calcium and phosphate levels.   It also stimulates osteoclasts, thus breaking down bone tissue, then stimulates Calcium resorption in the kidneys, where it also stimulates activated Vitamin D3 production.

THE ROLE OF VITAMIN D3

Vitamin D3 is a steroid hormone that plays an important role in regulating mineral metabolism.  The target tissues of D3 are the intestines, bone, kidneys, and parathyroid glands.

OSTEOPOROSIS & OSTEOPENIA

Simply stated, when bone absorption gets ahead of bone matrix production and replacement, bones begin to get thin.  This typically occurs in postmenopausal women and in men as they age.  With women it’s a reduction is estrogen that results in a reduction in osteoclast apoptosis (cell suicide).  With men it’s a reduction in testosterone and its conversion to estrogen that results in the same reduction in osteoclast apoptosis.  So bone resorption continues at a higher rate than bone replacement, resulting in a thinning of the bones (osteopenia) which leads to osteoporosis if left untreated.

ENTER FOSAMAX (ALENDRONATE)

The bisphosphonate alendronate and conjugated equine estrogens are both widely used for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Acting by different mechanisms, these two agents decrease bone resorption and thereby increase or preserve bone mineral density (BMD).

Alendronate’s mechanism of action is to inhibit osteolast activity and thus slow down the resorption of calcium. This has both favorable and unfavorable consequences.  While Fosamax slows down bone resorption, it prevents bone turnover and renewal.  This doesn’t sound very wise to me.  Basically, old bone is not replaced by new bone.  Bone matrix continues to be laid down by osteoblast activity, however the new bone is  formed on top of the alendronate which is then incorporated into the bone matrix where is ceases to be pharmacologically active.  This creates the necessity for continued administration of the drug to suppress osteoclast activity.  The end result is the creation of a thin veneer of bone matrix laid down on the back of the drug, which looks white on x-ray film giving the impression that bone density has been increased.  But it has only been increased at surface levels and not at deeper levels.

The problem with this is that the bone tissue underneath this veneer is not being replaced leaving the bone hallow inside and brittle. This is particularly so with the more spongy bone that comprise vertebral bodies and femur heads, as well as the jaw bone.  Compression fractures in the spine, along with hip fractures, are prevalent in older women who have been taking Fosamax for a lengthy period of time.  The femur head breaks off the femur  causing the elderly person to fall down.  It isn’t the fall that fractures the hip in most cases, but rather the hip fracture that causes the fall.  Necrosis of the jaw bone is a more devastating side effect of Fosamax drug therapy.

OSTEONECROSIS OF THE JAW BONE

A more notorious problem with Fosamax administration is the incidence of osteonecrosis, deterioration of the jaw bone, a disease for which there is no known remedy for reversal.  Fosamax has a half-life of ten years, so its presence is long lasting.  Go to the link above and read more about this detriment before you consider taking Fosamax or any of the other alendronate products.  For more information, simply Google Fosamax Problems or go to www.fosamaxproblems.com.

A MORE NATURAL AND SENSIBLE APPROACH 

Basically, a more natural and sensible approach to preventing and reversing bone-loss is to support the bone remodeling process with nutritional protocols, as the video clip demonstrated. In postmenopausal women, estrogen replacement therapy is favored over Fosamax administration. Testosterone replacement therapy is available for men.   I will save a discussion of the natural alternative to hormone and drug therapy for my next blog post.  So, stay tuned . . . .

To your health and healing,

Dr. Anthony Palombo

Visit my second blog Healing Tones for more of my views and perspectives on health and on vibrational healing.  Feel free to leave your comments and to contact me by email at tpal70@gmail.com.

References:

MedicineNet.com (Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary),

Peter J. Millett, M.Sc., M.D., Matthew J. Allen, M.A., Vet.M.B., Ph.D., and Neil Rushton, M.D., F.R.C.S.

Medical Education, Hospital for Special Surgery, Cornell University Medical College, 535 East 71st Street, New York, NY, 10021 USA

Orthopedic Research Unit, Box 180, Level E6, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

JCEM (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism)

EMBOJournal.com, and WikiAnswers.com

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Understanding Calcium Functionally

There is more calcium in the human body than all the other minerals combined.  More calcium supplements are sold than any other mineral, but most of them are not absorbed from the GI tract.  Once absorbed, calcium has to be ionized before it can be utilized.  Not all forms of calcium can be easily ionized by the body.  Let’s take a look at how this works from a functional standpoint. 

Calcium Functions

Calcium serves many functions.  It forms the foundation of bones. It provides fuel for muscle contraction. It is essential for blood coagulation and nerve impulse.  It is used by the immune system in “fighting” infections. In a deficiency of sodium, it is used to buffer acid and maintain normal pH in the body fluids and tissue.

Calcium does not stand alone, however, even in the formation of bone.  Calcium is balanced proportionately by magnesium (5/1) and by phosphorus (10/4).  Magnesium controls calcium absorption and provides lubrication for muscle contraction.  Phosphorus opposes calcium and holds it in solution where it is needed in liquid form.  It’s also a systemic acidifier, which is important to the absorption of calcium in the GI tract.

Bone Composition

Your body needs a lot more than calcium to manufacture bones.  Bones are made of protein, minerals and vitamins.  Minerals present in bone are: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, silica, iron, zinc, selenium, baron, sulphur, chromium, and dozens of others.  In order for bones to absorb the minerals Vitamin D must be present.  Collagen is also part of bone connective tissue and provides a matrix for bone formation.  As you can see, if you’re concerned about your bone health, you’ll need to take a full spectrum organic mineral supplement and trace minerals.  I will cover this topic in my next blog post.

The Role of Phosphorus

Phosphorus holds calcium in solution.  If the ratio between calcium and phosphorus becomes imbalanced, problems will arise.  If there is not enough phosphorus to hold the calcium in solution, the extra calcium will start precipitating out of the body fluids.  If it precipitates into your kidneys, it forms kidney stones.  If it precipitates onto your teeth, it is called tartar.  If it’s in your bones, it’s called arthritis.  If in your blood vascular system, it’s called arterial sclerosis or calcified arteries.  If in your eyes, it’s called cataracts. All of these conditions are symptoms of phosphorus deficiency.  We need to take a phosphorous supplement that does not contain calcium to raise the phosphorous level.  If the calcium level is low, then we have conditions like dental caries, the erosion of the teeth.  Looking at it from the dentist’s standpoint, this is the systemic cause of dental caries: high phosphorous, low calcium.  This does not mean we have too much phosphorous. It just means we don’t have enough calcium to buckled the phosphorous.

Absorption

Calcium requires an acid environment in the GI tract for proper absorption.  People who have an alkaline GI tract just can’t absorb and assimilate calcium well.  Standard Process Labs makes a Calcium Lactate which is comprised of five grains of calcium and one grain of magnesium citrate.  This makes the pH of the total product 5.2, which is on the acid side. Seven is neutral, which straight calcium would be.

A word of caution about iron supplements:  Too much calcium in the GI tract prevents the absorption of iron.  Therefore iron and calcium supplements should not be taken together.

Ionization   

Calcium has to be ionized before it can be utilized in the body. To ionize is to give an electrical charge to a molecule being ionized. This is accomplished in the blood stream by our body’s enzyme system. The ionization of minerals makes them functional in our body tissues. If calcium is not ionized, for example, it stays in the fluid. The only kind of calcium you can ionize in your body is calcium bicarbonate.  Calcium lactate changes to calcium bicarbonate in just one step.  Whereas, limestone (calcium carbonate) goes through about a dozen changes to become calcium bicarbonate.  Don’t confuse calcium bicarbonate with calcium carbonate.

Calcium bicarbonate cannot be taken in a tablet form.  It is present in spring water, but if you put that same spring water in a tea kettle and boil it, the soft organic calcium bicarbonate changes to hard inorganic calcium carbonate, which is insoluble.  It precipitates to the bottom of the tea kettle in the form of limestone.

Calcium carbonate cannot be easily ionized in the blood stream and therefore is not readily available for use in the body.  It is circulated around and eventually deposited in muscles and on bones or turned into kidney stones for elimination.  Most commercial calcium products, including TUMS and ROLLAIDS, are calcium carbonate.  Some calcium products are formulated with calcium citrate which can be ionized, although not as easily as calcium lactate.

Chelated Organic Calcium 

Inorganic calcium becomes organic when chelated by the organic acids produced by plant roots, which absorb the calcium along with other minerals in a slightly acid soil. That’s why soil pH is very important in the vegetable garden.  Humus soil is very conducive to mineral chelation and absorption.  This is one of the benefits of organic gardening.

Getting back to calcium bicarbonate, you can’t make calcium bicarbonate tablets because as soon as you start drying the bicarbonate it changes to calcium carbonate.  So the closest that we can come to calcium bicarbonate is calcium lactate.

For specific supplement recommendations and to order product, email me.

In my next blog post, I will explain bone resorption and remodeling and how drugs like Fosamax disable this process in a futile attempt to reverse osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Here’s wishing you a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Dr. Tony Palombo

tpal70@gmail.com

References:  John Courtney, former head of Research & Development for Standard Process, Inc. for thirty years, now deceased.  His comments on products in the Clinical Reference Guide manual are adapted for use in this blog.

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Drug and Vaccine Alerts!

I have been warning my HealthLight readers about the dangers of taking osteoporosis drugs, such as Fosamax, for over a decade.  Now the facts are out for all to read.  Bisphosphonates (Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva) cause brittle bones that fracture without cause.

Dr. Joe Mercola has been a reliable source of vital information relating to health and medicine.  I strongly advise you to go to his website http://articles.mercola.com/sites/current.aspx and read his current articles. They will blow your mind!

One is on the recent release of data relating to osteoporosis drugs and how they “kill” bone-regenerating cells (osteoblasts), causing femur bone fractures and in some cases causing the jaw bone to “rot and decay” in young women in their 50’s who have been taking Fosamax for “osteopenia” which is NOT a disease but normal in older women.

Another article is about the recent FDA shut down of a common infant vaccine due to animal virus DNA contamination.  Listen to the entire interview of Barbara Fisher by Dr. Mercola if you want to know the facts you will need to make an informed choice in your children’s health care.

Also read the article on how PepsiCo is “ditching” high fructose corn syrup due to startling research on how it’s contributing to juvenile obesity and a host of other diseases.  Raw sugar is better!

Stay tuned . . . and remember . . . All U need is love!

Visit my website http://www.healingandattunement.com   and my other blog: http://www.attunementwithsacredsound.wordpress.com