Bone health and overall health are closely linked.

Paying attention to how your bones feel is very important, oncology specialist Laurie Wise says it can even be lifesaving. "And that often is, especially in men with prostate cancer, their first presenting symptom, is they'll have bone pain or joint pain."

But then when it comes to treating certain cancers, the very substance that first gave us an indication that something was wrong may be at risk as prostate cancer survivor Frank Brieley found out. "Let me see your last bone density test. You've been on hormones for the prostate cancer, you're going to have bone loss."

Laurie explains that there are however, medications available to help keep your bone loss to a minimum. "A generic category of drugs that are used to treat bone loss in patients with metastasis cancer to the bone are called bio phosphinate."

Laurie also says that if you are undergoing treatment for cancer, you may be so overwhelmed with everything you're going through, but take time to ask your doctor about how your treatment may be affecting your bone health. "There's a huge risk if we ignore the symptom of bone pain or bone loss in patients that are being treated for cancer. The biggest fear, of course, for all of our patients is a fracture."

Patients hospitalized with fractures often develop other complications like pneumonia or blood clots that can greatly impact their outcome.

Before beginning any cancer treatment, talk with your doctor about possible effects including bone loss.