We all know that the incidence of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and what is known as metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X are significant problems, reaching epidemic proportions in our country and around the world. Metabolic syndrome is essentially a pre-diabetic condition of weight gain and elevated or unstable blood glucose, insulin, and certain blood lipid markers. The American Heart Association estimates that more than 50 million Americans exhibit the constellation of symptoms of metabolic syndrome.

While diet and lifestyle is almost entirely to blame for this, as well as the proper focus of remedy, what is not often discussed is the role of prescribed medication in the nutrient deficiencies that can underpin or aggravate these conditions. With sometimes multiple prescriptions being written for increasingly younger people, it is increasingly important to assess the risk of nutrient depletion as it relates to future symptoms, conditions, or progression of this syndrome. Several classes of drugs are used, and some have the potential to cause nutrient depletions that can exacerbate metabolic syndrome or create new morbidities. The primary drugs used include diuretics, anti-diabetic medications, cholesterol-lowering medications, beta blockers, and weight loss medications.

Obviously, nutrient depletion is a complex and multi-factorial issue, with diet, genetics, and stress and activity levels being very important factors as well. Therefore, responses to drug therapy are very individual. Often, however, patients display symptoms of a nutrient depletion, and rather than a nutrient being given, more drugs are prescribed to mask metabolic problems that have essentially arisen from the drug therapy. Assessing individuals for possible drug-induced nutrient depletion improves the overall health of the patient and prevents further co-morbidities and increasing use of medication. The primary nutrient depletions associated with metabolic syndrome drug therapies include CoQ10, zinc, magnesium, B12, folate and melatonin.

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“Bone density testing has been oversold,” said Steven Cummings, emeritus professor of medical epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco and the study’s principal investigator.

The study supports a reexamination of how best to diagnose and treat the potentially debilitating bone disease that can lead to collapsing spines and broken hips. Fosamax is the first and most well-known bisphosphonate, a class of drugs that has been found to prevent fractures in people with osteoporosis. Bone density screening took off after Fosamax was approved in 1995. For the first time, doctors had a specific treatment that had been shown to prevent fractures in people with osteoporosis. Partially due to adverse side effects, medical experts no longer recommend these medicines to prevent osteoporosis itself. They don’t want women to take them indefinitely, and no longer consider bone density measurements the sole defining factor in deciding if a woman needs to be treated.

For years doctors were overly enthusiastic, prescribing it for women whose bone density was simply lower than normal, keeping women on the drug indefinitely. Osteopenia was the term for lower than normal bone density, although it was not clear it had real clinical significance. Now, osteoporosis experts consider osteopenia to be a risk factor, not a disease, and its importance varies depending on a patient’s age.

This new study followed nearly 5,000 women without osteoporsis ages 67 and above for over 10 years. (A separate national study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluded about 70 percent of women over age 65 did not even have osteoporosis.) The researchers report that fewer than 1 percent of women with normal bone density entering the study, and fewer than 5 percent with mildly low bone density, ever developed osteoporosis in the ensuing 15 years. This suggests that frequent bone density measurements might not even make sense for the majority of older women whose bone density is not near a danger zone on initial tests (recommended at age 65). The researchers expressed surprise at how slowly osteoporosis progressed in women.

Joan A. McGowan, director of the division of musculoskeletal diseases at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, said the results “provide telling evidence that you are not going to fall off a cliff if you have normal bone density in your 60s or early 70s, that you are not going to have osteoporosis in the next five years unless something else happens.”

A much more useful risk calculator, FRAX, can help determine whether any treatment is recommended. If you do have an increased risk for fracture there are many natural approaches to turn that around: hormonal system support, improving dietary intake and absorption of protein and minerals, smoking cessation, and exercise. Drugs, often mask the underlying problem and, with their ever-present side-effects, should always be a last resort.

For women younger than 65, the same natural approaches just mentioned are the safest, most effective ways to improve and maintain healthy bone integrity, and there are numerous non-invasive ways to assess which approach is best for you.

If you have read other posts and articles on my website, you know I support the aims and philosophy of the Weston A. Price Foundation. If you are are interested in learning more and transitioning your food choices in accordance with their approach, I am excited to inform you of a new series of helpful videos.

For those of you who don’t have the time or inclination to prepare real food, excellent advice regarding simple yet profound ways you can change your diet is found here. You will discover a wealth of information and encouragement on incorporating traditional food wisdom into your life. I highly recommend it.

I’m getting older (who isn’t?) and, as I do, I’m more aware of the effects of aging. But some of us age with few physical or mental problems while others fall apart. I’ve become more interested in what is commonly known as andropause. It’s a set of symptoms caused by male hormone disruption. It’s more common with aging but can, unlike menopause, occur at any age—even teenage boys can be in andropause. Many think that erectile dysfunction is synonymous with andropause. This isn’t true. Another misconception is that taking testosterone will fix it. Nothing could be further from the truth. The unwise use of testosterone may make the problem infinitely worse, while the real problem continues unchecked.

The onset of andropause is gradual and the symptoms are often missed, ignored, or treated as a solitary problem by herbs or drugs without considering  it might be a sign of an underlying hormone imbalance. A few common symptoms of andropause are: irritability, loss of enthusiasm, fatigue, decreased strength, less interest in sex, poor memory, insomnia, sore muscles, high cholesterol and blood pressure, weight gain, and increased sweating. Erectile dysfunction is usually vascular, neurologic, or pysychological, not hormonal.

The most crucial area to be significantly effected by andropause, and the one of greatest concern, is not the penis but what should be, and often isn’t, the man’s real decision-maker—his brain. Unfortunately, the brain degeneration that accompanies andropause can make the sufferer into an uncommunicative loaner without any drive to do or change anything–your classic couch potato. That’s why it can be very difficult to treat–the guy doesn’t have the desire or energy to change despite the discomfort and disruption in his life. It’s not that he’s stubborn–the capacity to change simply isn’t there. It’s not personality, but brain degeneration. It becomes incumbent upon the spouse, partner, or family member to take charge and facilitate the necessary changes to reverse the degenerative process.

Fortunately, a simple saliva test can measure the tissue levels of all the important male hormones. The sample is collected at home. The cost is $120. If you are interested, please contact me to pick up a kit. You can read more here.