Osteoporosis means "porous bone". Since bone is living tissue that is constantly being broken down and restored, osteoporosis is a disease where the body loses too much bone and/or the body can longer make enough to replace lost bone tissue.
Loss of bone mass causes holes in the bones that weaken them and make them brittle. This increases the risk for fractures from even the slightest of falls. In severe cases it can cause fractures from small bumps and even just sneezing!
Typically, there are no symptoms of osteoporosis in the early stages of the disease. Once the bones become weakened and brittle, symptoms may include issues with the spine like loss of height, stooped posture, and back pain. Osteoporosis can also cause painful and limited mobility, difficulty standing, and walking for long periods of time and bones that break and fracture easily.
About 54 million Americans have osteoporosis and low bone mass. Studies show that nearly 50% of women and 25% of men over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis. These breaks can be very serious and tend to occur in the hip, spine, or wrist. Breaks from osteoporosis account for 2 million broken bones and $19 billion in healthcare costs every single year. In fact, some experts claim that by 2025 the numbers will climb to 3 million in fractures and $25.3 billion in costs annually!
This staggering information then leads to the question, how can we be proactive in our health to do all that we can to prevent osteoporosis, weakening of the bones and loss of bone mass?
Prevention
There are several things you can start doing today to protect your bones:
Limit your intake of carbonated beverages: Carbonated beverages and sodas have compounds that can cause vitamin and mineral loss, including that of calcium and magnesium. Both are needed in abundance for healthy bones.
Movement: Weightbearing exercises stimulate bone regrowth and encourage calcium to remain in the bones. Yoga, pilates, and water aerobics are great gentle weight-bearing exercises for anyone of any age.
Increase calcium: Including and increasing calcium rich foods in your diet will ensure the body has enough for proper bone support. Vitamin D and magnesium are also important co-factors to keeping calcium in the bones where it belongs.
HRT: Hormone replacement therapy, especially in women, plays an important role in preventing osteoporosis. Estrogen in postmenopausal women works to keep calcium in the bones.
Osteoporosis can be a debilitating, costly and even life-threatening disease. Luckily there are several action steps you can take today to move towards stronger and healthier bones!
Here at Alpha Wellness Lab, we are proud to offer our patients bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.
To read more about all the benefits of HRT for women click here. For more information regarding men's HRT click here.
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