Osteoporosis is a disease that causes a person's bones to lose mass and become brittle, leading to rounded shoulders, loss of height, and even painful fractures. The word osteoporosis means bone that is spongy or full with gaps.
Osteoporosis is a serious health problem in the United States that affects more than 25 million people and results in more than 1.5 million fractures of the back, wrists, and hips each year. 80% of individuals influenced by osteoporosis are women. It is the major underlying reason for bone breaks in postmenopausal ladies and the older. People who have inflammatory arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis) and take glucocorticoid medications have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis.
During a lifetime, bone undergoes a process called remodeling in which old bone is broken down and replaced with strong, new bone. Between the ages of 12 and 25, the calcium you get from food helps bone rebuild faster than it breaks down. By approximately age 25, you reach peak bone mass when your bones are at the strongest and most dense they'll ever be.
By the time women reach menopause, bone mass begins to decline slowly. For the next five to 10 years, women can lose up to one-third of their bone mass because bone breaks down faster than it can be replaced.
In fact, the first warning sign of osteoporosis may be a broken bone. In some cases, spine fractures may result in a loss of height and rounded shoulders.
Risk Factors:
The measure of bone mass you have as a Young Adult and the rate at which you lose it as you age determine your danger for osteoporosis. Researchers cannot yet predict exactly who will develop osteoporosis, but the disease is more common in:
- women, especially that past menopause;
- people who eat few calcium-rich foods;
- ladies who go through menopause early (before age 45);
- people with thin or small frames;
- men with low levels of testosterone;
- people who take drugs that reduce bone strength (glucocorticoids, anticonvulsants, or heparin);
- smokers;
- The People who drink more alcohol daily;
- those with a family history of osteoporosis;
- people who don't exercise regularly;
- those with a family history of osteoporosis;
If you have one or more of these risk factors, you are at greater risk of developing the disease and breaking a bone. Women are at greater risk of losing bone mass than men because women's bones are 20 percent to 30 percent less dense than men's bones. However, gradual age-related bone loss in both sexes plays a role in causing hip fractures in later life.
How to prevent osteoporosis?
The keys to preventing osteoporosis are building strong bones and preventing bone loss. Before age 35, you can take the following steps to build as much bone mass as possible: increase your calcium intake; avoid smoking; avoid heavy alcohol consumption; do weight-bearing exercises for 30 minutes at least three times a week, and try to maintain an appropriate weight for your body frame. These steps also may help slow the rate of bone loss later in life.
Being too thin lowers estrogen levels, which, in turn, can lead to bone loss. Heavier women produce more estrogen, which protects bones and stimulates the formation of new bone.
Increase Your Calcium Intake
Calcium intake not only influences bone density but also affects other body processes. Your body must maintain a certain calcium level in your blood for muscle contraction, heartbeat, and normal blood clotting. Because these functions prioritize calcium's role in bone density, the body draws calcium from the bones to keep blood levels normal when calcium intake isn't adequate.
How much calcium you need relies upon your sex, age, and hazard for osteoporosis. Most adults need 1,000 to 1,500 mg of calcium per day from food and/or calcium supplements. Unfortunately, most women only get about half that amount, or 500 mg, from their diets.
Getting enough calcium is especially important if you're a woman under age 35 because your body can still absorb and store calcium in your bones easily. Experts recommend 1,500 mg per day for teenagers and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Increasing your calcium intake to 1,500 mg is an important way to combat this inefficiency after age 50.
Getting 400 to 800 IU (international units) of vitamin D per day also is important. Good sources of vitamin D include liver, fish oil, vitamin D-fortified milk, and multivitamins.
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