Mar 23, 2022 12:00 AM
Writer:
College of Utah Well being Communications
You’re by no means too younger or too previous to be involved about bone well being. Your skeleton consists of 206 bones that present construction to allow you to maneuver. Your bones defend your mind, coronary heart, and different organs from damage and retailer minerals corresponding to calcium and phosphorus, which assist hold your bones robust.
You get calcium and phosphorus from the meals you eat. If you happen to don’t eat sufficient calcium in your weight loss program to maintain your physique functioning, calcium is depleted out of your bones, your bone density is lowered, and the danger of breaking your bones is elevated.
Bone weak point results in osteoporosis
Chances are you’ll not discover any early signs of a calcium deficiency, however as your bones develop weaker, you may develop osteoporosis. Older adults with osteoporosis are weak to breaks of their wrists, hips, and spines. Britta Trepp, MS, affiliate director for the College of Utah PEAK Health and Fitness and supervisor of the Build-a-Bone Program within the Office of Wellness & Integrative Health observes, “One main signal that you could have osteoporosis is a fragility fracture. That wouldn’t usually happen from a bump or minor fall.” Bone fractures are painful and may trigger lack of mobility and independence and may end up in dying.
Threat components improve osteoporosis
Threat components can improve your possibilities of getting osteoporosis—some you may management, and others you may’t.
Hold your bones robust by following these good well being habits:
- Eat a well-balanced weight loss program wealthy in calcium and vitamin D. Devour calcium in low-fat dairy merchandise and meals and drinks with added calcium; get vitamin D from egg yolks, saltwater fish, liver, and milk with vitamin D. Eat vegatables and fruits with different vitamins for bone well being.
Chances are you’ll have to take multivitamins or dietary dietary supplements to get sufficient calcium and vitamin D.
- Be physically active. Like muscular tissues, bones change into stronger with train. Every day, attempt to get not less than half-hour of train—strength-building and weight-bearing, like strolling, climbing stairs, lifting weights, and dancing.
- Stay a wholesome way of life. Don’t smoke and restrict your alcohol consumption. Smoking and heavy alcohol use can cut back bone mass and improve your threat for damaged bones.
- Preserve a wholesome weight. In case you are underweight, you elevate the danger of fractures and bone loss.
- Speak to your physician about your bone well being. Talk about threat components along with your physician. Ask should you ought to get a bone density take a look at—a fast, protected, and painless method to measure your bone energy and density when you’ve got osteoporosis or osteopenia, and cut back your threat of breaking a bone.
Test along with your physician should you take medicines that may trigger bone loss. These embrace glucocorticoids for arthritis, bronchial asthma, and plenty of different illnesses and medicines that forestall seizures or deal with endometriosis and most cancers. Your physician can prescribe medicines to assist forestall bone loss and cut back your possibilities of bone fractures.
- Forestall falls. If you happen to fall, you may break a bone, particularly when you’ve got osteoporosis. To stop falls, verify your property for hazards like free rugs and poor lighting. Have your imaginative and prescient checked commonly. Enhance your stability and energy by strolling day-after-day and taking motion and stability lessons. When you’ve got robust bones, you might forestall fractures should you fall.
You possibly can’t management some threat components, together with:
- Age: Your possibilities of getting osteoporosis improve as you become older.
- Gender: You have got a higher probability of getting osteoporosis if you’re a lady. Ladies have smaller bones than males and lose bone sooner than males due to hormone modifications after menopause.
- Ethnicity: White and Asian ladies are almost definitely to get osteoporosis. Hispanic and African American ladies are additionally in danger.
- Household historical past: Having a household historical past of osteoporosis may improve your threat.
Further tricks to hold your bones wholesome
At any age, you may proceed to discover ways to look after and strengthen your bones, mitigate fracture threat, and reduce your probability of creating osteoporosis by way of these sources:
