How to Avoid Osteoporosis

What Is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis causes bones to become more porous (less solid and less dense), which gradually makes them weaker and more brittle. “Osteo” means bone, and “porosis” means porous.

Bones affected by osteoporosis:

• Do not have enough solid calcium and phosphorus, and steadily lose their supporting protein framework
• Become thinner and more fragile than normal
• Break more easily, particularly the spine, hip, and wrist

To maintain bone density, the body needs enough calcium and other minerals and must produce the proper amounts of several hormones, including estrogen in women and testosterone in men. In addition, an adequate supply of vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium from food and incorporate it into bones.

What Causes Osteoporosis?

There is no single cause of osteoporosis.

Our bodies constantly build new bone and remove older bone. In childhood, more bone is built than removed, and so the bones grow in size. After age 30 or 40, however, the cells that build new bone do not keep up with those that remove bone. The total amount of bone then decreases, and osteoporosis may develop as a result.

The average rate of bone loss in men, and in women who have not yet reached menopause, is small. But after menopause, bone loss in women accelerates to an average of one to two percent a year.

This is because after menopause, the level of the female hormone estrogen in a woman’s body sharply decreases. Estrogen protects the skeleton by helping the body’s bone-forming cells to keep working. After menopause, when the level decreases, some of this protection is lost.

How to Avoid Osteoporosis

Preventing osteoporosis involves making a few changes in your diet, getting enough exercise, and considering whether the available medication is right for you.

One of the most important ways to help prevent osteoporosis is to get enough calcium in your diet. Here is the recommended daily dietary allowance of calcium for various age groups:

• Children, age 1-10- 800 mg daily
• Teenagers, age 11-18- 1,200 mg daily
• Pregnant teens – 1,600 mg daily
• Pregnant women, age 19 and older – 1,200 mg daily
• Breast-feeding women – 1,200 mg daily
• Adults, male, up to age 65 – 1,000 mg daily
• Adults, male, over age 65 – 1,500 mg daily
• Adults, women, before menopause – 1,200 mg daily
• Adults, women, after menopause – 1,500 mg daily

Manufacturers sometimes add extra calcium to foods such as orange juice and breakfast cereals. The Nutrition Facts label on the package will tell you how much calcium is contained in the foods you eat.

In addition, calcium supplement tablets are available over-the-counter.

One of the uses of vitamin D by the body is to help absorb calcium from the intestine. Some people with osteoporosis have a lower level of vitamin D and a less effective absorption of calcium as a result. Vitamin D is either made in the body from exposure to sunlight or is taken through foods.

The recommended daily allowance for vitamin D is 400 IU. You can increase that to 800 IU, especially if you don’t get enough in your diet and don’t get much sun exposure. Don’t take any more than that per day, unless your physician has recommended a higher dose.

One of the best ways to forestall osteoporosis is to do regular weight-bearing exercises.

Begin a regular exercise program and stay with it. Start light and gradually build up to 30 to 40 minutes of exercise several times a week. Of course, consult your physician before you begin any exercise program and if you feel pain after you’ve begun.

Although swimming is not a weight-bearing exercise, it can be excellent for strengthening the muscles in your back. The stronger the back muscles, the stronger and more dense the bones of the spine. Exercising in the water is also a good option for individuals with arthritis or others who experience pain with weight-bearing exercise.

Keep in mind that it is possible to get too much exercise. Some women athletes who train excessively and exercise strenuously may alter their hormone production so severely that their menstrual periods stop, a condition called amenorrhea. This can lead to osteoporosis and fractures.

Here are some of the many benefits of exercise:

• Maintaining bone condition. The pull on the bones from exercising muscles helps to maintain bone density and strength.
• Improving your posture. Exercising the back muscles helps the whole body become more upright. This can help avoid the “bent-forward position” that can develop with osteoporosis.
• For general fitness. This is important for everybody, but especially for individuals with osteoporosis.

Menopause, as well as surgical removal of the ovaries, causes estrogen production to decrease. Low estrogen levels make women more vulnerable to osteoporosis. Women can protect themselves by taking estrogen to replace what their ovaries no longer produce naturally. This is called hormone replacement therapy.

Studies have shown that osteoporosis can be prevented or delayed if estrogen treatment is begun within the first few years of menopause. Hormone replacement therapy is considered both an effective treatment and a preventive measure for osteoporosis.

Hormone replacement therapy has been shown to entirely restore the rate of post-menopause bone loss to the pre-menopausal rate. It may even replace a small amount of bone already lost.

For infomation about medications such as Raloxifene please consult your GP.