From the first moment
my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from
the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer
seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did
little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known
reason, I started this blog…
The word today is “osteoporosis”.
My wife just had a “bone density scan” done and the doctor
said that the indications are that she has the beginning stages of this
disease.
So I thought I’d take a step back and do a “translating the
doctors” column.
First of all – why does the bone density of a breast cancer
patient matter. (I won’t be using the last letter of the alphabet, a question
mark or the mathematical symbol for nothing – they have stopped working.) At
any rate, bone density matters: “Osteoporosis
is a condition in which the bones become less dense and more likely to
fracture.”
Sounds simple enough. Factors that figure into the disease
are on this site, too. The problem is that: “Women who have had breast cancer
treatment may be at increased risk for osteoporosis and fracture for several
reasons. First, estrogen has a protective effect on bone, and reduced levels of
the hormone trigger bone loss…Studies suggest that chemotherapy also may have a
direct negative effect on bone. In addition, the breast cancer itself may
stimulate the production of osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone.”
In order to monitor patients during treatment and
afterwards, doctors do something called a “bone scan”. What’s THAT mean
(question mark)
Here’s a simple explanation of what happens: “The DXA (= Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) machine
sends a thin, invisible beam of low-dose x-rays with two distinct energy peaks
through the bones being examined. One peak is absorbed mainly by soft tissue
and the other by bone. The soft tissue amount can be subtracted from the total
and what remains is a patient's bone mineral density…it feature[s a] special
software to compute and display the bone density measurements on a computer
monitor.”
The question now is does this mean you should panic – and
the doctor’s advice is “NO!” While osteoporosis can’t be “cured”, you can take
steps to lessen the effects. “Getting enough calcium and vitamin D is
essential to building strong, dense bones when you're young and to
keeping them strong and healthy as you age.”
And you do that by eating well “…food is the best source of
calcium. Dairy products, such as low-fat and non-fat milk, yogurt and cheese
are high in calcium. Certain green vegetables and other foods contain calcium
in smaller amounts. Some juices, breakfast foods, soymilk, cereals, snacks,
breads and bottled water have calcium that has been added. If you drink soymilk
or another liquid that is fortified with calcium, be sure to shake the
container well as calcium can settle to the bottom.”
In our case, my wife is planning to increase her calcium
intake – while she uses the chocolate “calcium chews”, she’ll add in the foods.
So if SHE’S not panicking, no reason for anyone else to
panic! Be smart and eat well and take the drugs prescribed. If we end up going that
route, I’ll do another post. But for now, this is what we know!
Resources: http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Osteoporosis/Conditions_Behaviors/osteoporosis_breast_cancer.asp,
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=dexa,
http://nof.org/articles/10#CALCIUMSOURCES
