The Osteoporosis Interviews

Today, my long essay on osteoporosis appears in The Guardian. Herewith, unedited, are two of its primary source interviews: Drs. Avrum Bluming & Muriel Babey, along with links to prior interviews.

A couple of months ago, one of the readers of this publication, an editor at The Guardian, reached out to ask if I could synthesize everything I’ve learned since my osteoporosis diagnosis into a personal essay for the paper. At first I balked. After fifteen months of doctors appointments, online interviews, medical research, scans, tests, and endless waiting for more appointments and more scans, I still have not decided which of the osteoporosis medications I will take, if any.

Then I realized: the odyssey of this diagnosis—particularly the lack of clear-cut answers vis a vis treatment—is an integral part of the story. And recounting that odyssey, step by step, might be useful for other women with hollowed out bones. A small-framed friend of mine, who was also diagnosed with osteoporosis after I urged her to get a DEXA scan, told me she was glad I was consulting with and interviewing so many doctors for this publication and for The Guardian because that means she doesn’t have to lift an osteoporotic finger. “I’ll just do whatever you do!” she said, laughing. “Until then, I’ll just keep jumping.”

I’d told her to get a trampoline, after one of the doctors I spoke to suggested it could be helpful for building balance and strength. My friend already had one in her backyard for her kids. I had to find one I could turn on its side when I’m not using it. Here’s the one I got for myself, if you’re interested. And yes, it’s sturdy, well-built, smallish enough for a Brooklyn apartment, and I try to jump on it for five minutes every day.

Writing and reporting this story, which was just published today, took a good chunk out of my summer. Here are the opening paragraphs:

On June 16, 2023, I got my first DEXA scan. I was 57. Three hours later, a rogue driver plowed his car into mine and shattered my wrist in three places.  

57 is relatively young for a DEXA – or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry – scan, which measures bone density, or the amount of calcium and minerals in your bones. The CDC recommends them for women 65 and over, but while interviewing Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health, a virtual care clinic for those in perimenopause and menopause, she had urged me to get one sooner. Strober had grown alarmed by how many of their 50-something patients were finding that they had the bones of an octogenarian.

The results of my DEXA scan arrived in my inbox a week after my car crash: I had full-blown osteoporosis.

At one point, the essay ballooned to 3500 words, but space is obviously limited in a newspaper, so we had to edit it down to the essentials.

Given that, I’ve decided to do something a bit unorthodox: I’m releasing two of the primary source interviews for that Guardian essay herewith, in their entirety. If I found them fascinating and important, I’m betting you might, too. The other interviews can be found in past stories here, with Dr. Babak Larian, endocrinologist and expert on hyperparathyroidism, which can cause osteoporosis; and here, with Dr. Mary O’Connor, the orthopedic surgeon I first consulted post-diagnosis.

And yes, here’s where I will once again make a plea to all of you: if you are getting something out of this work I do—trying to make sense of women’s health, from the often confused and baffled perspective of a female patient seeking answers for all of us—please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Journalism does not pay well enough to support the majority of us who still do it these days, so all of this has become a labor of love. Here’s a little button to make it easy.

That being said, anyone—and I mean, anyone—who cannot afford $5 a month or $50 a year for a paid subscription, just reach out and tell me, and I will gift you one, no questions asked. Been there. Still there. I get it. No judgment.

Now, without further ado, here are Dr. Avrum Bluming, oncologist and author of Estrogen Matters (whom I also interviewed here, re heart health; and here, re his book) and Dr. Muriel Babey, an endocrinologist and one of the authors of a fascinating new study on CCN3, the so-called “maternal brain hormone,” which she found in lactating female mice and which might turn out to be the magic bullet for treating osteoporosis in humans one day, if only my brittle bones can last long enough for it to be approved by the FDA.

The transcripts of these interviews are way too long for Substack’s email word limit, so here’s what I’ll do. All subscribers, whether paid or not, will have access to the full transcripts, with time code, by clicking on the linked photos below. Oh, and if you have any of these known risks for osteoporosis—small-boned, short, thin, smoker (current or former), drinker (current or former), a history of eating disorders (particularly restriction), a family history of osteoporosis, a diet low in calcium, vitamin D, and/or protein—and you are 50+ years of age in either perimenopause or menopause, I strongly urge you to ask your primary care provider to test your PTH on your next blood draw and to prescribe a baseline DEXA scan. This should be the standard of care for all middle-aged women, but it’s not. Until it becomes so, please advocate for yourself.

Here, below, are the transcripts of the interviews. Just click on the photo of the interview you’d like to read, and you’ll be directed to a full transcript with time codes.

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