Osteoporosis and Joint Replacement
When you have osteoporosis, your bones are very thin throughout the entire body, not just in one location. Osteoporosis is a sign of poor vitamin and mineral status, especially calcium, magnesium, boron, vitamin D, and vitamin C.
All vitamins and minerals work together to help make strong bones in the body, and that's why you can't just take a few of them and expect it to work. Interestingly, many of the misguided researchers in the scientific field do exactly that – give calcium only to patients in an osteoporosis study and then expect it to cure the disorder. Of course it doesn't work; the thinking was flawed from the start. Then they 'proclaim' that calcium doesn't work for osteoporosis! Beware of scientists who make incorrect conclusions!
Is Joint Replacement Therapy Right for You?
Joint replacements may be something you're considering if you have osteoporosis. This may not be wise thinking for these reasons:
- A joint replacement is only done for one or a few joints such as in the spine. It's the bone that is the basic problem, not only the joint.
- A joint replacement cannot be done for every single joint in the body. At the present time, joint replacements are done for the hip, shoulder, knee and wrist. If you replace one part of a body that is 'crumbling', you have a strong replacement part but the bones nearby haven't changed. The nearby bones could then need replacement soon thereafter.
- A joint replacement is a surgical operation that requires long recovery. If your body is too worn down, it may not be able to withstand the stresses of surgery. It's best to build your body up first before the surgery – and it's possible that by taking the time to build your body up, you start the healing process and may not need the surgery. Remember that you'll have a lot more pain after the surgical procedure than you did before, until you heal from the operation.
- Joint replacement therapy may be a procedure used now but in the near future, injections of stem cells may be a lot easier on your body and a lot more effective. Stem cells are the body's original cells that become other cells.
- For example, a stem cell may create bone-building cells, joint cells and cartilage cells all simultaneously. Stem cell therapy still needs additional testing but it's a much better bet in the long run over joint replacement therapy. Also, the amount of down time is minimal with stem cell therapy.
Don't rush into joint replacement treatment. Of course, if you have had a vertebrae in your spine collapse, replacement of the vertebrae is possible – and the joints will be automatically replaced in this treatment. If the vertebrae collapses unevenly, you will be in a lot of pain, but doctors can do microsurgery to replace the vertebrae. This treatment is highly successful and doesn't have a lot of down time.
Start preventing osteoporosis now with lots of green vegetables in your diet. Eating a big 2-quart salad bowl of many types of vegetables is one of the best strategies you can start now to keep your bones strong. Making sure you have enough calcium, magnesium and vitamin D in your diet is also critical. You can prevent osteoporosis.