Osteoporosis is a condition that thins and weakens bones, making them more likely to break. It mainly affects women after menopause, but it can also affect older men.
A bone healthy lifestyle can help prevent osteoporosis. You can start building strong, healthy bones in childhood by eating a nutritious diet and getting regular exercise. Read on Osteostrong’s Innovative Solutions in Wisconsin for more information.
Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones to the point where they break easily. It affects millions of people in America and causes over 700,000 hip fractures and 1.5 million vertebral (back) fractures each year. The good news is that there are many things you can do to help prevent osteoporosis or lessen its effects if you have it already.
A good diet is key to bone health. Your diet should be rich in calcium, vitamin D, phosphorus and other nutrients that are important for bone strength. You should also limit your intake of sodium, salt and alcohol.
In addition to a healthy diet, you should get regular exercise to promote bone strength and improve balance, which can reduce the risk of falls that lead to broken bones. Strength training exercises that involve your muscles, such as weight lifting and yoga, are the best for building bone strength. However, it’s important to consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program, especially if you have a condition such as arthritis or a spinal condition like kyphosis.
You can also lower your risk of osteoporosis by getting enough sunlight and using a sunscreen to protect your skin from too much UV rays. You can also ask your healthcare provider about taking a dietary supplement that contains calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients that are important for bone health. Avoid antacids that contain aluminum, as these can interfere with your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
Your family history and your personal lifestyle can affect whether you will develop osteoporosis. For example, women are more likely to develop it than men because they have a smaller peak bone mass and less bone tissue to draw from as they age. You are also at greater risk of osteoporosis if you have a family history of the disease, or if you smoke or drink more than two alcoholic drinks a day.
You can get a bone density test, or DEXA scan, to measure the strength of your bones. This test uses X-rays to measure the amount of calcium and other minerals in your bones. Your healthcare provider may also use a tool called FRAX to calculate your 10-year risk of a bone fracture.
Get Regular Exercise
Osteoporosis makes bones weak and fragile, which increases the risk of breaking a bone—especially in the hips and spine. But if you take steps to prevent osteoporosis, such as eating a nutritious diet, getting enough exercise, not smoking, and avoiding excessive alcohol, you can slow down the loss of bone density and strengthen your bones.
The best way to preserve and build bone is regular weight-bearing exercise. This type of exercise helps to strengthen your muscles and improve balance, which can help prevent falls that may lead to fractures. Your health care provider might recommend that you try walking, yoga, tai chi, or other exercises that involve movement and help your body work against gravity. Your doctor might also suggest a physical therapist to help you find exercises that will be safe for you.
Regardless of your age, it is never too late to start taking steps to protect your bones. But it’s important to begin early, because the choices you make in your daily life can impact your bone health throughout your life.
For example, kids get a lot of bone-building benefits from playing sports and weight-bearing exercise. Adults don’t gain as much benefit from weight-bearing exercise, but it is still important to get some.
If you are worried about osteoporosis, talk to your health care provider. They can advise you on what types of exercise to do and how much. They might also recommend that you have a DEXA scan to see how your bones are doing. Your health care provider will use your results to help you decide whether any other treatment is appropriate.
While osteoporosis affects mainly older people, it’s important to take preventive measures early. It is important to visit your health care providers for routine checkups, especially if you are at high risk for osteoporosis. They can tell you when you should have a DEXA test and how often you should have follow-up tests. They can also tell you if any medications you are taking might be affecting your bone health. They can also recommend good sources of calcium and vitamin D.
Avoid Smoking
Fractures from osteoporosis are often very serious and can lead to disability, pain, and loss of independence. Because of these severe complications, it’s important to take action to prevent osteoporosis from developing. This includes getting enough calcium and vitamin D, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, staying hydrated, not smoking, and avoiding medications that can cause bone loss such as proton pump inhibitors (like Prilosec), corticosteroids and estrogen-lowering medications.
Smoking can reduce bone density and increase the risk of fractures by interfering with normal bone turnover and reducing levels of estrogen, a female hormone that protects bones. It can also cause premature menopause in women, which leads to a faster drop in estrogen and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Smoking may also interfere with the absorption of calcium and other nutrients by reducing intestinal function and disrupting the gut microbiome.
People who smoke have a higher risk of osteoporosis than nonsmokers even when taking into account other factors such as thinner bones, poor diets and sedentary lifestyles, and the tendency to smoke as a result of being around others who smoke. This is because of the direct toxic effect that smoking has on bone cells.
Osteoporosis can be diagnosed with a simple, painless test that uses X-rays to measure bone density, called a bone density scan or DEXA scan. Healthcare professionals can use this test to estimate a person’s chances of developing osteoporosis and identify the areas most at risk for fractures.
The most effective way to prevent osteoporosis is to start building bone-healthy habits at a young age. This means getting plenty of calcium and vitamin D, avoiding smoking and alcohol, and ensuring that regular exercise and good posture are part of your daily routine. It is also important to ensure that your home and work environments are safe to prevent falls and breaks by removing loose carpets and trailing wires, installing grab bars in the shower, and making sure walkways are free of clutter. Getting enough sun is also very important for bone health, as the body produces vitamin D through exposure to sunlight.
Get Regular Checkups
Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and break more easily. It is a “silent disease,” with few, if any, symptoms until a fracture occurs, most often in the hip, wrist or spine. This can cause pain, deformities and loss of mobility, and increase the risk of falls and fractures. The best way to prevent osteoporosis is to follow a bone healthy lifestyle beginning in childhood and continuing throughout life, including regular checkups and bone density tests. You should also get a flu shot, protect yourself from sun exposure and avoid smoking and excessive alcohol intake. You should also consider participating in a clinical trial to help develop better treatments for osteoporosis.
The most important step in preventing osteoporosis is to see your doctor. Your healthcare provider will examine your health and history, then recommend specific lifestyle changes. These might include getting adequate calcium and vitamin D (from dairy products, leafy vegetables, fortified foods or supplements) and engaging in regular weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercise. You may also need to take medications, such as estrogen or calcitonin, which slow bone loss and help rebuild bone tissue.
Talk with your healthcare provider about a DEXA scan, which uses low doses of radiation to measure bone density. This can identify areas of increased risk and help your doctor determine whether you need further testing or treatment.
Your healthcare provider may also prescribe a combination of medications that slow bone loss and strengthen existing bone tissue. These might be taken orally or by injection. You should be sure to follow your healthcare providers’ recommendations for dosage and frequency of medications, especially if you are taking acid reflux medication or other drugs that affect your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
Men tend to lose bone density more slowly than women, but it is still important for them to talk to their healthcare providers about their risk of osteoporosis. In addition to a healthy diet, exercise and medication, they may need to be tested for underlying conditions such as thyroid disorders or menopause. In some cases, they may need to consult specialists such as orthopaedists (doctors who treat and operate on bones and joints), physiatrists (physicians who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation) or physical therapists to improve joint function.