About Osteoporosis

Steven Jones asked:


Osteoporosis and Osteoporosis Treatment

Osteoporosis, “porous bones”, is a disease that causes bones to become fragile and brittle and very susceptible to fractures. These fractures occur typically in the hip, spine, and wrist. A fracture or broken bone can have a huge affect on your life, causing disability, pain, or loss of independence. Fractures can make it very difficult to do daily activities without help.

In the past osteoporosis was thought of as a women’s disease. Now we know that men also have to worry about weak bones and are at risk of osteoporosis. In fact, one in four men over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture caused by osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis Diagnosis

The best method to diagnose osteoporosis is a bone mineral density test, called a DEXA test. It is recommended to get a bone density test if you’re a woman aged 65 or older or if you are 60 years old and at increased risk of osteoporosis. The results of your bone density test will give you a T-score. The T-score compares your bone density with that of an average healthy young adult of the same sex.

What is The Best Osteoporosis Treatment?

It is never too late, or too early to treat or prevent osteoporosis. Building strong bones when you are young is the best defense against getting osteoporosis later on in life. To improve your bone health, try the following advice:

1. Calcium

The best way to treat and prevent osteoporosis is to get adequate amounts of calcium along with magnesium, trace minerals, vitamins D3 and vitamin K2 in your diet. Osteoporosis is not only due to insufficient calcium intake but rather because we do not get sufficient amounts of bone building nutrients in our diet.

It is best to get as much calcium from foods in your diet as possible, and then make up the shortfall using a calcium supplement with the proper bone building ingredients included in the formula.

2. Vitamin D

To help your body absorb calcium It is also important to get enough vitamin D. You can get vitamin D through sunlight and foods. You need 10-15 minutes of sunlight to the hands, arms, and face, two to three times a week to get enough vitamin D. Recent studies show you need much more vitamin D than was previously recommended.

3. Magnesium

Magnesium and calcium work together to keep calcium in your bones and out of your soft tissues. It is always best to get minerals from your diet by eating legumes, and vegetables (especially dark-green, leafy vegetables with chlorophyll).

4. Vitamin K2

There are many recent studies finding vitamin K2 to be very important for healthy bones. Vitamin K is not made naturally by the body so it must come from your diet.

5. Exercise

Weight-bearing exercise, which is any activity in which your body works against gravity helps your bones in many ways. Exercise slows bone loss, improves muscle strength and helps limit bone-damaging falls. Walking, dancing, running, climbing stairs, gardening, doing yoga, tai chi, hiking, playing tennis, or lifting weights will all help with treating and preventing osteoporosis.

Natalie

Janet Martin asked:


Here’s bad news for women with osteoporosis who are being treated. Not all anti-osteoporosis drugs are safe and effective. Some of them have serious side effects that are bad as the disease itself.

While early drug therapy can prevent complications like fractures of the hip, spine and wrist, medical experts warn that some therapies remain controversial and require further study.

Osteoporosis or porous bones affects 200 million people worldwide and more than 30 million women in the United States and Europe. At risk are white and Asian women who lose the female sex hormone estrogen rapidly following the onset of menopause.

This causes the bones to become brittle and thin, making them more susceptible to crippling and life-threatening fractures of the hip, spine and wrist. These fractures can be triggered by sneezing, lifting a heavy object or bending. Because it is a silent disease without any symptoms, osteoporosis is often undetected until irreversible damage to the skeleton occurs.

What are some of the drugs used to prevent or treat osteoporosis? Here are the more common ones and their side effects:

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or estrogen replacement therapy is usually prescribed to women immediately after menopause to alleviate the discomfort associated with decreasing estrogen levels. Extended use of estrogen that is given by means of pills or a skin patch, reduces osteoporotic fractures by 50 percent or more. But there’s a catch: To benefit from HRT, you must take it for at least seven years. If you stop taking hormones before the age of 70, the bones start thinning immediately and fast.

In those who have heart disease, hormones may trigger a heart attack. In some, they can make the breasts swell and feel uncomfortable. Evidence from dozen of studies also suggest that HRT increases the risk of breast cancer.

Another drug is calcitonin that is available as an injection or nasal spray. This is a chemical produced by the thyroid gland that decreases bone loss and may control the pain of fractures. Some studies show that long-term treatment with nasal calcitonin may prevent further bone loss in the spine. However, calcitonin may lose its effectiveness after long-term use. Another drawback is its price. Treatment can be costly and cause nausea.

Bisphosphonates are drugs that have been used for years to treat bone diseases. They prevent bone loss and increase bone mass at the spine and hip. While they have few side effects, they become less effective over time.

A safe and inexpensive way to prevent osteoporosis is to take calcium-rich foods. Many published studies show that low calcium intakes are associated with low bone mass, rapid bone loss, and high fracture rates. This can be corrected by consuming milk and other dairy products, high-calcium orange juice, vegetables, sardines, tofu, and yogurt. For those who can’t get enough calcium in their diet, calcium supplements are advised, especially for pregnant and lactating mothers as well as postmenopausal women.

To strengthen bones, embark on a regular exercise program. Weight-bearing exercises are beneficial and can help prevent osteoporosis. To keep you in shape, take Phenocal – a safe and natural weight loss supplement that will boost your metabolism, suppress your appetite, increase energy levels, and help you lose unwanted pounds. For more information, visit http://www.phenocal.com.

Kathy