Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Sanson's book is a wake up call to all of us who get low BMD scores and are encouraged by doctors to reach for drugs. This is a well-researched, clearly written book highlighting the questions and controversies surrounding the treatment of osteoporosis. She views the tactics of the pharma industry and medical profession as alarmist, and wonders how all of a sudden this "new disease" has become rampant based on technology that didn't exist a decade or two ago. Her own family has serious issues with low bone mass density, but has had success preventing fractures without drugs. But--when you read the book, be aware of her bias! She relies heavily on the findings of a Dr. Susan Ott, who happens to have an easily accessible website. I looked at it (just type Susan Ott into your search engine) and what I found was the best resource I've ever seen on osteoporosis. Ott's work is much more balanced. There ARE links between low BMD and fractures--Sanson makes it sound like there aren't. Drugs do help, although the side effects are bad. Calcium helps too, but is not the "silver bullet" some say it is. Ott's website has a terrific "calculator" you can use to assess your personal risk of fracture--try it! She also includes an excellent tutorial on how to read those dexa reports. Analyze your report and figure it out before you see your doctor--for sure you'll be more informed about what it says than he or she will be--most docs glance at the total score and prescribe based on that alone. I found Sanson's discussion of differences in BMD and osteoporosis among countries particularly interesting. Sanson draws the conclusion that animal protein may be a negative factor; interestingly Ott isn't so sure. She notes that in Asian cultures, for example, it is common to suck on chicken bones, even if otherwise the diet consists of fish and vegetables. As usual, the picture is murky. Sanson argues that the ACTUAL risk of fracture is small, and Ott would agree, especially before the age of 70. And there's no question that there are NO studies beyond a 10 year term or so that track BMD, the efficacy of the drugs and the side effects. But after a lot of research, I've found that everyone agrees heredity, diet and other lifestyle changes are critically important (what else is new?). If you get a bad test result my advice is NOT "consult your doctor"--read up on it first. Sanson's book is a good resource--but not the only one.