Strong Bones
When you were a child, most likely you remember being told to drink milk and eat dairy products for bone health. For women this was even truer than it may have been for men. And you may have been asking yourself why this was so important. Now, as you age, you are more than likely well aware of the dangers of osteoporosis and why bone health is such a critical issue for women to deal with.
As a child, you were able to build up bone mass and form bones that were thick and strong. But as a woman ages, her bone health naturally begins to deteriorate. Osteoporosis is a disease which can have devastating effects on a woman’s quality of life. Poor bone health can be more terrible than you might think. Imagine sustaining a simple fall and being told that you have broken your hip or your spine because your bones are so brittle. Osteoporosis can rob a woman of her independence and longevity as it robs her bones of calcium.
Before there was any information about why it was important to have good bone health, women often found that as they aged, they fell more easily, broke bones more easily and may even have formed a hump on their back. A dowager’s hump is often a result of repeated spinal fractures due to osteoporosis. Repeated fractures from poor bone health can also lead to loss of mobility, severe chronic pain, and a loss of independence as a woman with osteoporosis becomes increasingly unable to look after herself.
There are a few things which can lead to poor bone health and puts you at risk of developing osteoporosis. Risk factors for osteoporosis include low body weight, being of Caucasian ancestry, low levels of blood estrogen, and a lack of calcium and vitamin D in the diet. Smoking and a sedentary lifestyle can also severely impact bone health and lead to the development of osteoporosis. A woman who does not ingest enough calcium during pregnancy is also at risk since the developing baby can leach calcium from her bones, making them weaker.
But there are things that you can do to increase bone density, improve your bone health and reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis. They include weight bearing exercises that improve bone health by increasing bone density, eating calcium and vitamin D rich foods such as dairy products, and taking calcium and vitamin D supplements. Because low levels of estrogen in the blood can lead to the development of osteoporosis, women who are post-menopausal are urged to take hormone supplements to keep their levels of estrogen up and maintain as high a level of bone health as possible.
There are medications which can help even after a woman has been diagnosed with osteoporosis. They involve introducing calcium into the system so that the density of bones is maintained. If bones are thick and strong, bone health is considered good, since strong bones are less likely to fracture if they are stressed. Drug therapy for osteoporosis includes calcium supplementation as well as medications which stimulate cells called osteoblasts. If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis you should speak to your doctor about what medicines will be best suited to you and your system.
Bone health is something that can have a massive impact on your life. Don’t neglect it and let osteoporosis destroy your middle and old age. Acting now to protect your bones can have a major impact down the road.
Will Lee
Physician Network Writer
