Osteoporosis: Not a sexy diagnosis, but neither is a hip fracture. Osteoporosis, described as “thin bones” or “brittle bones,” affects approximately half of women and 25 percent of men older than the age of 50.
According to the National Institutes of Health, 12 million Americans already have osteoporosis and another 44 million have low bone mass and are at risk of developing the disease. Risk factors include family history, advancing age, sedentary lifestyle, inadequate dietary calcium and vitamin D intake, smoking, two or more alcoholic drinks a day and steroid use (for asthma or other medical conditions). In addition, being a post-menopausal woman is a risk factor. Caucasian and Asian women are at higher risk than Hispanic or African American women.
The best test to determine if you are at risk for a fracture is a DEXA bone scan, a painless, low-dose x-ray at about age 55. This will determine if you have normal bone mass, osteopenia or osteoporosis. The normal life cycle of bone includes bone building and bone breakdown, or resorption. We build bone mass in our teens and 20s with peak bone mass occurring between ages 25 to 30. Bone density gradually decreases as the individual ages. Several factors can influence bone mass — weight bearing exercise such as walking, jogging, hiking, dancing and weight lifting. Bike riding and swimming are good exercises for cardiovascular health but they do not prevent bone loss.
Adequate calcium and vitamin D intake (over our lifetime) are also critical to bone health. Recommended doses of calcium are as follows: Adults 50 years and younger: 1,000 milligrams elemental calcium/day. Adults 50 years and older: 1,200 milligrams elemental calcium/day. Our bodies can only absorb 500 to 600 milligrams of calcium at one time, so we need to divide our doses throughout the day. Many foods contain calcium, including dairy and dark leafy green vegetables.
Vitamin D, sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” is necessary for the absorption of calcium. As we age our skin has less ability to absorb vitamin D from the sun, and as many of us use sunscreen it is important to supplement with vitamin D. The recommendation is 1,000 i.u. of vitamin D per day.
If we are aware of the dangers of bone loss and take steps in our younger years to “put enough bone in the bank” we can make a huge impact on our bone health for a lifetime.
This column is no substitute for seeing your own health care provider. You can read about all my other escapades on my blog www.drpauladhanda.com/.
Contributing author Quincy Andrus. Quincy works with Dr. Paula Dhanda, who is a practicing physician in Kelseyville. She is the founder of Worldwide Healing Hands. She may be reached at 707-279-8733 or visit http://drspecialtycare.com/ or http://worldwidehealinghands.org/.
