The traditional Chinese herb that saves your bones

Do you know if you’re one of the 55 percent of people whose bones are losing mass and becoming weaker each day?

If you’re over 50, it’s a fair guess you are.

Osteoporosis is a silent disease and you may not be aware you have it until one of your bones break, but there are warning signs you can look for. These include:

• Backache or neck pain
• A gradual loss of height and an accompanying hunched posture
• Fractures of the spine, wrist, or hip
• Dull pain in your bones or muscles
• Stiffness and difficulty moving

If you think you may be suffering from this progressive disease, measuring your bone mineral density, or BMD, is the best way to know if you have osteoporosis and how much you are at risk for fractures. If your doctor isn’t testing your bone density yet, you may want to have a conversation with him. But be wary of the medicines he may want to put you on…

That’s because bone-strengthening drugs are causing fractures. When this happens the doctors are suggesting that patients up their vitamin D3 and calcium uptake. Well why didn’t they do that in the first place?

Hope for Osteoporosis Sufferers

Taking calcium and vitamin D3 and exercising can help keep bones strong, but may not be enough when it comes to treating osteoporosis especially if you are postmenopausal.

That’s because normally, your body breaks down old bone and replaces it with new, healthy bone and estrogen helps regulate this process. However, with the onset of menopause your estrogen levels drop, causing you to lose more bone than is being replaced.

If your doctor determines you have osteoporosis, beware the side effects of prescription drugs for bone loss. In addition to the risk of fracture, these include weakness, constipation, back and muscle pain, anemia, diarrhea, skin problems and even serious infections of your skin, ear, stomach and bladder.

But, there is good news…

Scientists have recently found that a traditional Chinese herb might hold the key to a new osteoporosis therapy that could prevent bone loss without causing side effects.

Using a compound derived from red sage, researchers have found a way to selectively block an enzyme called Cathepsin K (CatK), which plays a major role in the breakdown of collagen in bones during osteoporosis.

In fact, they found that it prevented bone loss and increased the bone mineral density of the mice treated with the compound by 35 percent, when compared with the control group.

Previous attempts in pharmaceutical research in blocking CatK have resulted in dangerous side effects, including stroke, because those attempts also blocked CatK’s important roles in other parts of the body. But, according to Preety Panwar, a research associate in the Brömme lab, “Our compound only locks the collagen –degrading CatK activity, preventing the unregulated breakdown of collagen in bones without any other negative impacts.”

Using Red Sage

Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), sometimes called red sage, has been used for centuries to help treat a wide range of medical concerns, from high cholesterol to type 2 diabetes and now can be part of your osteoporosis prevention plan.

Danshen or red sage is very different than the sage in your spice drawer that you use for cooking so don’t confuse the two.

You can find danshen in the following forms both online and in natural health stores:

• Capsules
• Tincture
• Tea

Choose which works best for you and follow the instructions on the package for dosage instructions.

You should not take red sage if you’re taking blood thinners, such as warfarin, since danshen has an anticlotting effect or if you’re taking common pain relievers, since these can react negatively with red sage. It should also be avoided if you’re pregnant or nursing.

Don’t let osteoporosis leave you with brittle bones. Be aware of the early warning signs of the disease and use red sage to keep your bones strong without the side effects of prescription drugs.