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April 14, 2006

Fosamax Lawsuits

This news story is very distressing. There are lawsuits by women claiming Fosamax causes osteonecrosis of the jawbone.

"The osteoporosis drug Fosamax is under fire, with reports linking its long term use to a condition causing patients' jawbones to rot and die. That disease is called osteonecrosis (ONJ) and it caused Gwendolyn Wolfe to develop ONJ." (wate.com)

Oh great! A rotting jawbone?!!! I sure am glad I continued to resist doctors who wanted me to take this. As I stated before, my mother took it and ended up with problems swallowing. Just what she needed when she was dying from breast cancer!

Check out a copy of Overdosed America by John Abramson, M.D., (or just go in a bookstore and read). The chapters on hormones, osteoporosis and Fosamax are very eye opening. His website has an excerpt from the book on Fosamax… click on Chapter 13.

I'm finally going back on Wednesday for a follow-up bone density to see if the strontium is working. (I take strontium citrate.) I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

Note: I'm contributing to the new bone health blog if you want more information about Fosamax.

Posted by laura at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2006

Supplements to Prevent Breast Cancer

Well, it sure has been awhile so I thought I would do some catching up and talk about an interesting product I heard about this morning.

I was watching a news show and they had Dr. Christine Horne on talking about a new supplement for breast cancer prevention. Dr. Horne is the surgeon who headed up a national campaign in the 90s that pushed legislation through Congress requiring insurance companies to pay for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. So I searched for a news story and found this.

The supplement is called Protective Breast Formula and combines seven natural ingredients in clinically-studied doses: Vitamin D, Calcium D-Gluconate, Green Tea Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Indolplex (DIM), Maitake D-fraction, and Turmeric. They have established clinical efficacy for promoting breast health. You can read all about it and check out the ingredients here.

I already drink green tea and have been taking DIM or I3C for years. But this supplement looks pretty good and I'm considering taking it. Dr. Horne also has an interesting website.

As for other progress in my quest toward figuring out how to live well with menopause, I don't have too much to report. I completely quit the natural progesterone. Could be a mistake but I didn't intend to do it forever anyway and I'm not having hot flashes. I'm still taking the Maca which does seem to help a little, and of course still on the vaginal estriol for dryness.

I had my yearly mammogram, ultrasound, and pap smear. Everything was fine and that was certainly a relief after what happened last year.

Related HealthDiaries.com Content
20 Health Benefits of Turmeric
The Breast Cancer Blog

Posted by laura at 3:53 PM | Comments (0)