Re: CRON and Bone

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Well, maybe make it a four-mice report.

I broke my arm in about the same place and it turned out much as in

yours, Rodney. My aunt broke hers and it was a poorly aligned bone

repair, unfortunately, and she has not had full use of the arm and

much pain. She was 75 years-ish and hyperthyroid, however, as

opposed to my CR-imposed weight loss.

I was poorly calcium and vitamin D nourished at the time.

The inadequate supply of muscle and fat tissue to protect the bone

from the direct impact of a fall against a hard surface or object

could be a factor, I would think. This is opposed to the situation

where the bones are subjected to stress involving the weight of the

body.

Cheers, Al Pater.

--- In , " Rodney " <perspect1111@y...>

wrote:

>

> Hi folks:

>

> [Of course part of the following is simply an anecdotal two-mouse

> experiment. And we all know from 'Beyond', pages ~9 - 25, how much

> notice should be paid to THEM!]

>

> Just visited the hospital for more x-rays and advice for my broken

> arm. I cannot imagine anyone else will have any interest in this

> matter except in as far as it has some relevance to CRON, which in

> certain respects it may have.

>

> First point is that I have been told that signs of osteoporosis do

> not show up on a regular x-ray until things are so far gone that

you

> would already have had plenty of other symptoms. So, the fact

there

> are no signs on my regular x-rays means nothing. No one would

expect

> there to be. I plan to have a bone density scan in a few weeks

which

> will definitively answer that question. When I have the results I

> will post them, whatever it is they say. I have absolutely no

reason

> to suspect osteoporosis. This is a precaution and a benchmark for

> future reference.

>

> Second, about two weeks after my fall I met someone in a store who

> was also wearing a sling. We commiserated and had a discussion.

We

> had both fallen on ice and broken the humerus about half an inch

> below the bottom of the shoulder joint. I was asked how long ago

it

> had happened. " Two weeks " I replied. She said she had done it

nine

> weeks ago. " Gulp " I thought, " am I still going to be in a sling

> after nine weeks? " She looked to be five to ten years younger than

> me, with a BMI, I would guess, of around 26 .......... so was

> certainly not a CRONista.

>

> Well it has now been 4 1/2 weeks for me. At my visit today the

> doctor reported lots of bone growth all around the break (and the x-

> rays were so clear even a blind man could have seen it ..........

> well almost). He suggested I no longer needed the sling and should

> now start some physiotherapy.

>

> So the message as regards CRON seems to be that someone one year

into

> a restricted diet, having lost about sixteen pounds, and taking

Ca+D

> daily, mends about twice as fast (perhaps faster, I do not know

when

> she finally got out of her sling) as someone in the general

> population ten years younger, with a BMI four points higher. (Of

> course I am not out-of-the-woods yet. But sfsg). So at this

point,

> this experience does not seem to support the proposition, sometimes

> suggested, that CRON may diminish the body's ability to (re)build

> bone.

>

> Nevertheless, it certainly is true that lighter people exert less

> stress on their bones. And the bones in turn will tend to adjust

to

> the less stressful environment. Hence the possible value of weight

> vests to make the body think you still weigh the same as you did

pre-

> CRON when you were thirty pounds heavier.

>

> Rodney.