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Tuesday, September 23, 2003She was in Fort Worth to promote her new book, I'm Not Slowing Down (Dutton, $23.95), an account of winning her battle with osteoporosis, and to urge women to start taking better care of themselves. (emphasis mine) As opponents go, osteoporosis is an ideal one. In most cases, it's a consequence of aging. It isn't disabling. Although it does make one more prone to breaking bones, having it isn't painful. It's completely asymptomatic. There's some debate about whether or not it should even be considered a disease. It's a finding on an x-ray, and the consequence of those findings are themselves controversial, guidelines not withstanding. And it certainly isn't fatal, although in her rush to claim the mantle of survivor Richards insists otherwise: Even today, people don't think of osteoporosis as a fatal disease, but it is, Richards insists. ``My mother died of it." She did? ".... Well, that is not literally true. She died of cancer, but I swear her spirit died from osteoporosis. Mother just accepted it as part of aging, just part of growing older, but it's not. It's a disease, and there's medicine for it,'' she says." Richards's mother, apparently, had more sense than she does. Or at least didn't crave the limelight as much. What's more, Richards doesn't even have osteoporosis: I have osteopenia, a less severe form of it, because I started taking medication and doing weight-bearing exercise. ``I'll be damned if I'm going to let a disease like this slow me down,'' says Richards, whose osteopenia was diagnosed after she fell in September 1996. Lucky for her, you don't have to try too hard to keep osteopenia from slowing you down: Bone density naturally declines with age. By definition, 45% of white women aged 55 have 'osteopenia' - but this definition was not intended to be a treatment guideline. We can't all be above average! No, but many of us can pretend to be! ADDENDUM: Don't suppose this has anything to do with her book, do you? One of the other high profile people at the Lilly-supported Roundtable of International Women Leaders was the former governor of Texas, Ann Richards. Just days after that Lisbon meeting Ms Richards appeared on CNN's Larry King show, talking about the star-studded roundtable on osteoporosis and strongly endorsing the value of a good diet and plenty of exercise. She also revealed she was taking a medication. According to the transcript, she told Larry it was 'Evista. It works for me.' Her assistant later confirmed that Ann Richards worked for Lilly from time to time. Truth obviously isn't her forte. posted by Sydney on 9/23/2003 07:57:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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