Weakend Bones

[Guest]

RCB has been on it longer than anyone elkse in the world and his bones are normal. Several other people here have been on it in excess of 30 years. There will be a new drug before anyone sles has been on it that long.

What are you going to do -refuse warfarin and be paralyzed now?

Your time would probably be better spent worrying about a comet hitting the Earth in 3012!!

 

[Ross]

Your time would probably be better spent worrying about a comet hitting the Earth in 3012!!

And as my eternal punishment continues, I might be around for that too!

 

[Lynlw]

RCB has been on it longer than anyone elkse in the world and his bones are normal. Several other people here have been on it in excess of 30 years. There will be a new drug before anyone sles has been on it that long.

What are you going to do -refuse warfarin and be paralyzed now?

Your time would probably be better spent worrying about a comet hitting the Earth in 3012!!

I believe lilBit origonally asked about this because she hasn't had her surgery yet, so i guess she is doing as much research to make an informed decision on what valve to get,

 

[Ross]

Yes she's trying hard to do her homework, but I would caution her that many many things she's going to run across have little or no basis whatsoever and Coumadin happens to be used as the scapegoat in most instances. I guess what I'm saying is, worry about Strokes and Bleeding, not about the smaller things. These two can kill or mame you, the others cannot not.

 

[Karlynn]

I'm also wondering how much genetics plays a part? I've been on Coumadin for almost 15 years and my cardio is not concerned with osteoporisis with me. Women in general, need to make sure they consume an adequate amount of calcium. I read, don't remember where, that some believe that the "surge" in osteoporosis in women is due to a diet that really lacked calcium. Weight was stated as a big reason many women don't consume dairy much. My MIL has bad osteoporosis - only been on Coumadin for a few months after a hip replacement. My SIL (her daughter) is fighting off osteoporosis. Both are HUGE coffee drinkers and rarely every drink milk.

As far as vitamins with K in them, the danger isn't in taking the vitamin, because your dose will be adjuststed accordingly. The danger is in not taking them for a week or so after your dose has included your K vitamin intake.

I have never been concerned about Vit K in any of the food I eat. (Maybe that's why I'm on a larger dose). Most people do not stray outside their normal eating habits. If you wrote everything down that you eat, for a year, and then looked at your list, you probably would see that everything you eat would only fill up a month on the calendar before you start repeating.

Eat what you want. We say to be consistant - but in reality, most people are. We just don't want someone pigging out on spinach 3 times a day for a week and then stopping.

 

[lilbit]

I believe lilBit origonally asked about this because she hasn't had her surgery yet, so i guess she is doing as much research to make an informed decision on what valve to get,

I already made my descision to get the On-X valve, I feel confident with this descision. I am sure I will adjust to the warfarin my biggest concern is remebering to take it. I am horrible on remembering to take meds. But I figured I will set a alarm on my phone to remind me. Thank you all for all the feedback you have given me.

Also thanks to Ross for the website www.warfarinfo.com. Please read below to see one of the answer to my questions:


THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WARFARIN AND BROKEN BONES

A study by Gage et al looked at the relationship between long-term warfarin and osteoporosis-related fractures in elderly people with atrial fibrillation. They compared the records of people on Medicare who were hospitalized in all 50 states during 1998 and 1999. The records of 7587 people who were not prescribed warfarin were compared with those of 4461 people who were on long-term warfarin. They looked for people with fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. This long-term warfarin use was associated with significantly more fractures in men than women. There was no association with fractures in people who took warfarin for less than a year. The older a person was, the more likely they were to have a fracture. High fall risk was also associated with more fractures as was hyperthyroidism, neuropsychiatric disease and alcoholism. There were fewer fractures in African-Americans than other races and in those who took beta-blockers. Beta blockers are the drugs whose generic names end in –olol. Examples of these are Toprol (metoprolol), and atenolol.

Remember that a strict interpretation of these results would only apply to men with atrial fibrillation. However, there is no reason to suspect that the results would not apply to others (particularly men) taking long-term warfarin for other reasons.





Thanks

 

[Karlynn]

I am sure I will adjust to the warfarin my biggest concern is remebering to take it. I am horrible on remembering to take meds. But I figured I will set a alarm on my phone to remind me. Thank you all for all the feedback you have given me.

Or you can also get one of those 7 day pill boxes and place it where you'll see it every day, like where you brush your teeth, or next to your hand lotion you use every night. If you have small children in the house - it could get a bit tricky where you put it, but I'm sure you get my drift.

 

[RCB]

I just checked the partner site ptinr and there were 2 different articles this is the link about warafin and bone density in children http://www.ptinr.com/data/templates/article.aspx?a=405&z=0

and here is the one about the increase in bone fractures http://www.ptinr.com/data/templates/article.aspx?a=501&z=0
it's not the full paper but gives a little more detail then the one i posted before that i just picked since it was the first one that came up when I searched
It seems to be pretty new research which is probably why it isn'tas well known yet and i'm sure there will be more studies done and who knows what the verdict will end up being

Not to beat a dead horse, but again the second article is not a different article but is a rehash of the Gage study that Al posted several months ago right here on this forum and was mention above. One study, cited several different times about pts. with an average age of 80, is still only one study. The first study about children you cited is 17 pts. and is interesting. As Ross suggested, were other factors considered that might differentiate them from the control group like diet or exercise, that all children on warfarin might have in common not just the fact they take the same drug.

Still, the bottom line is, taking a calcium supplement is a good idea for most people- on warfarin or not.