The drug alendronate has been reported to prevent osteoporosis in younger postmenopausal women with nearly the same effectiveness as hormone therapy. The studies were funded by Merck & Co., a Rahway, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical manufacturer.
The New England Journal of Medicine (1998;338:485-492)
Annals of Internal Medicine (1998;128:253-261, 313-314)
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Dr. John Lee is the physician who wrote "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PRE Menopause" He is very strongly opposed to the use of Fosamax, and I could not agree with him more on this issue. It is interesting that Merck, the manufacturer of Fosamax, funded both of these studies and both appeared in two well respected medical journals the same week.
Fosamax is in the same chemical class (phosphonate) that is used in the cleaners used to remove soap scum from your bath tub. This is a metabolic poison that actually kills the osteoclasts. These are the cells that remove your bone so your osteoblasts can actually rebuild your bone.
It is quite clear that if you kill these cells your bone will get denser. What these studies do not show is that four years later the bone actually becomes weaker even though it is more dense.
This is because bone is a dynamic structure and requires the removal and REPLACEMENT of new bone to stay strong. Fosamax does NOT build ANY new bone. The true solution, as I have reviewed in previous newsletters, is to go on natural progesterone. One can review Dr. Lee's book for more information.
Progesterone is the only substance that I know of that will actually increase bone strength and density. It does this by serving as a growth promoter for the osteoblasts, or the cells that build bone. Of course, it would be wise to have the other basics in place such as adequate amounts of calcium, zinc, magnesium, vitamin D and copper, in addition to exercise and avoidance of items that will damage bone like soda pop and sugar.
This is one of the main reasons you will not find studies published on natural progesterone as it is a natural substance which can not be patented and no huge amounts of profit can be realized.
However, please note that in general I am not a fan of the progesterone creams for reasons previously mentioned.