Product Description

With over 10 million Americanscurrently suffering from osteoporosis-and millions more at risk-awareness of the disease has been brought to the forefront. Many women try everything from calcium pills to lifting weights in hopes of increasing bone density to prevent this devastating condition. Dr. Felicia Cosman, who has specialized in osteoporosis for 15 years, asserts that every woman should be following a universal prevention plan.This comprehensive guide to a lifelong strategy covers everything women need to know, from the architecture of the condition, to methods for reducing risk factors, to preventative nutrition, exercise, supplements, and vitamins-and the latest findings about estrogen and hormone replacement therapy. But prevention may not be enough-bone density testing is also a crucial yet often misused component of diagnosis. This breakthrough approach presents women of all ages with new, safe, and accessible means of preventing osteoporosis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584417 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author
Dr. Felicia Cosman lives in Rockland County, New York.

Customer Reviews

Useful information from a physician/patient
If you are like millions of other women who have been diagnosed with low bone density, DON'T PANIC! I bought this book after a bone density scan; my physician informed me that I have spinal osteopenia and gave me some fairly alarming warnings about possibly needing to be on medication (though, to his credit, he suggested I obtain a second opinion). I immediately ordered this book and "The Myth of Osteoporosis" (also recommended) and am exceedingly glad I did. This book offers a comprehensive overview of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, with much useful information that, as the title suggests, my doctor never provided. I learned that while bone density is a serious issue for older women, and should not be trivialized, the medical profession and pharmaceutical companies have converted what is essentially a normal state of aging into a disease. Women concerned about bone density should thoroughly inform themselves about how bone density scans are interpreted (this is a controversial area) and about all the medical and nonmedical options available to them. Equally important, they should educate their daughters, because the first few decades of life is the prime time for building healthy bone. For many women, the best course of action will simply to be to eat right, get plenty of exercise, and stop worrying!

Excellent Information
This book has much information about osteoporsis and what it means to your future. Along with this book, I strongly suggest reading another book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause - The Breakthrough Book on NATURAL Progestrone". The Osteoporsis book is extremely informatative about all aspects of the disease, osteoporsis, while the Progestrone book is full of informatin to aid you to become involved with your doctor in setting a course of action against osteoporsis. It is wonderful in explaning the differences between natural and man-made hormones. It gives information on REVERSING osteoporsis. Both books are a must read for anyone who has osteoporsis or is headed in that direction.

Huge, glaring bit of really terrible information
While this book adequately covers the usual topics for a book on osteoporosis, there is a bit of misinformation that is so huge that, as you can see, I gave the book one star. This is misinformation that is repeated over and over, typically from the traditional medical establishment, and also from under-informed journalists.

The author seems to think that the only hormone to replenish depleted progesterone in menopausal women is progestin. Wrong! Progestin is the synthetic drug used in the WHI trials, and was for years the "synthetic progesterone" of choice of MDs until those study results were released. However - it is easy and inexpensive to use natural progesterone, which is chemically the same as what your body produces, and chemically different from the synthetic progestin. The author then goes on to cite increased risks of cancer from hormone therapy. Well, yeah, when you use synthetic chemicals, common sense tells us that's probably not the best idea. There are hormonal therapies that use chemically-identical compounds, but the profits do not accrue to the pharmaceutical companies, so they continue to brainwash physicians against them.

This is a huge disservice to women and is incredibly irresponsible misinformation peddling. Please, do some research on the topic. Read every book you can find on menopause (osteoporosis will be covered, as will many other important topics) and realize that many books by MDs will make the same mistake this author does - but many others will not. You have to learn for yourself to recognize when misinformation is being given. Progestin is not natural. Progesterone is. Estrogen plus progesterone is what your body produced when you were young and healthy. They are not suddenly poisonous after your 50th birthday. (Whereas, apparently, the synthetics traditionally prescribed by MDs are.)

Everyone is different, and every woman needs to make up her own mind. But please, do it with the correct information, and not the brainwashing of the pharmaceutical industry.