by Robert Pirello

Great Thanks to Christina Pirello for allowing CyberMacro to reprint these three articles on the very important and often silent discussion of osteoporosis. I encourage everyone to get a subscription to Christina Cooks which is where these articles were obtained from. Please also take a look at our current forum discussion on osteoporosis.

I’m the person Ruth Ann was referring to who had multiple lumbar fractures. To be more precise, I had compression fractures of all five lumbar, as well as fractures of several ribs. That’s right, not one, not two or three, but all five lumbar. The pain was so excruciating that it was virtu­ally impossible to stand from a sitting position without crying.

My story goes bock to 1998 when I twisted my foot while hik­ing and broke my fifth metatarsal, which took a long five months, as opposed to the normal month and a half to heal. Eventually the bones did knit, and then the back, rib, and hip pain set it. After months of suf­fering, I decided to break down and see a doctor and have an x­ray of my spine. Looking at the x-ray, the doctor said, “I think I see some osteoporosis, let’s do a dexascan and an MRI.”

While I agreed to the tests, I was convinced that I did not have the dreaded disease; after all, I have been practicing mac­robiotics for nearly twenty-five years and was a total and complete fitness nut, so I sort of shrugged off the thought of osteoporosis and waited for the test results.

About a week later, at 7:00AM; that’s right, seven in the morning, the phone rang. It was the doctor. I could not believe what I was hearing. ..“Mr. Pirello, your test results are back, and it doesn’t look good. You have severe osteoporosis. In fact, you have the bones of an eighty-six year old man. I want you to see another doctor.” Reluctantly, I went to doctor number two, who, after looking at my test results and giving me a complete physical, leaving nothing untouched, said to me, “you are one of the healthiest forty-eight year oIds I’ve ever seen, with one exception, your bones are disintegrating at a rapid pace.” When I asked him what caused the bone loss, he told me that he believed I had a severe case of malnutrition.

WOW! Malnutrition. I eat this healthy macrobiotic diet. “I think you should immediately began a regimen of Fosamax, and I want you to see a nutri­tionist.”

I left the doctors office knowing that I was not going to subject my self to Fosamax; and no way was I going to talk to a nutritionist; but I had to do something. After much reflec­tion, and analyzation of my diet, I decided I could lick this thing. Christina began doing massive research on osteoporosis. Together we discussed my diet in relationship to my active lifestyle. The biggest dietary change made for me, was to add substantially more fat to my diet, and a little less whole grain. That’s right, MORE FAT! More fish, more olive oil and less grain.

Still struggling with my daily back and rib pain, Christina sug­gested I make an appointment to see Doctor Bernardo MerizaIde, a homeopathic MD. I had all of my test results forward to Dr. MerizaIde and had my initial consultation. While con­cerned with my condition, he assured me that we could turn it around with a regimen of home­opathic remedies and calcium supplementation.

With Dr. MerizaIde’s care and recommendations, I was pain-free in a matter of three months. One year later a dexascan told all, I had regained 24% of the bone density I had lost. ..unbelievable. One year later, the improvement was 39%. Today, nearly three years later, I have gained more than twenty pounds, feel like a million bucks, and am back to feeling like my old self. I continue with calcium supplementation; however much less than I had been taking when originally diagnosed.

My personal advice to any­one suffering with osteoporosis, is to weigh all of your options; and don’t take a diagnosis of severe osteoporosis lightly. If you have hip, back, rib, or any kind of bone pain, have a dexascan; don’t mess around, and don’t wait.

Personally, I don’t believe, in severe cases, that food alone is the answer. I don’t believe that there is time, nor do I believe that anyone can be that precise and accurate in their macrobiot­ic practice that they can cure this degenerative disease before

it gets worse. And I can’t tell you not to take Fosamax or any other drug treatment; that’s a decision only you can make. Most importantly, what I can tell you is...EAT! I look around at many people in the macrobiotic com­munity today, and I see myself back in 1998, and I want shout from the rooftop, “EAT SOME OIL!” That’s my story.

Autumn 2001

Christina Cooks