Category Archives: Osteoporosis
The Root Cause of Osteoporosis
Bones perform four vital roles. Three of these —structural support, organ protection, and the production of blood cells — are commonly acknowledged. A fourth, as important but less celebrated function, is the storage of minerals for on-demand use by other parts of the body. These minerals include magnesium and phosphorus, but by far, the most plentiful of these warehoused minerals is calcium. The best way to visualize this storage
role of bones is to think of them as a mineral “bank.”
Blood levels of calcium are tightly regulated, perhaps one of the most strictly controlled processes in the body. When calcium blood concentrations start to fall below the base level, calcium can be “withdrawn” from the bones. On the other hand, as calcium blood concentrations begin to approach the upper limit in a healthy individual, it is often “deposited” in the bones. The process of withdrawing calcium from bones is called resorption, whereas the reincorporation of calcium back into the bone matrix is called absorption. These two processes, absorption and resorption, are constantly changing the shape and structure of the bone in a cycle that is called bone remodeling.
In addition to maintaining mineral blood levels (homeostasis), bone remodeling has many purposes. As children grow into adulthood, there are bones that fuse together (as in the skull), and others that must grow in length and girth. The change in load bearing needs during pregnancy also call for a remodeling of some of the bones to meet that need. Exercise forces bone remodeling as muscles grow and require more skeletal support. Additionally, the normal stresses of life cause micro- and mini-fractures in bone tissues that normally go unnoticed but ultimately weaken structural strength. Bone remodeling is the process the body uses to shape and heal these fractures.
Under certain conditions, resorption (withdrawal of calcium from the bones) is abnormally high and absorption (deposition of calcium in the bones) is abnormally low. When calcium withdrawals in the bone continually
exceed deposits, the calcium deficit results in osteoporosis. Several factors contribute to an osteoporotic condition, but there is one that is responsible for the lion’s share of calcium loss. It initiates and severely worsens an imbalance in the bone remodeling (absorption-resorption cycle) and it prevents incorporation of calcium into the bone matrix. In clinical terms, the major cause of osteoporosis is a focal scurvy of the bones.
Reducing the cause of Osteoporosis
A large body of scientific evidence shows that reversing the focal scurvy improves bone density, reduces fracture risk, and greatly lowers all causes of mortality. The remedy is inexpensive, wildly effective, and totally safe. And yet, hardly anyone in mainstream medicine talks about it or is even aware of it. Quite simply, scurvy (severe vitamin C deficiency), whether general or localized (focal), can be prevented, cured, and reversed with appropriate dosing and administration of vitamin C and other important nutrients.
To read more, buy my latest book Death by Calcium from MedFox Publishing.
