Preventing Osteoporosis
The National Osteoporosis Foundation has declared May Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month. While most people think of osteoporosis as an “old-age” disease, it is never too early to work to prevent it. According to Dr. Karen Kovalow-St. John, of Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute in Chesterton, one in two women will experience an osteoporotic fracture in her lifetime. “All through our life, we lay bone down and pick it up,” she says. “Bone is constantly turning over.” Around the age of 40, most folks reach peak bone mass. At this point, the body starts to pick up more bone than it lays down, and bone density thins. Menopause accelerates the process in women. Men can develop osteoporosis too, but usually later in life, because they naturally have a greater bone mass.
What can you do?
» Choose your parents well. Much of bone health depends on heredity.
» Get milk. Calcium is essential for bone health. Teenage years, the growth years, are most crucial, but now is always better than later.
» Get vitamin D. Calcium won’t do a thing for your bones without vitamin D, and deficiency is rampant, especially in northern latitudes. Dietary vitamin D is found in oily fish. The recommended dose is 800 to 1,000 IUs a day. Sunshine causes the body to manufacture vitamin D. Exposing your arms and legs to the sun for just twenty minutes three times a week should suffice.
» Do some form of weight-bearing exercise—walk, run or lift weights.
» Talk to your physician about your risk level. Certain medications affect bone density. Bone density testing may be in order.
» Consider hormone replacement therapy. While there is some debate about HRT, there is no argument that it helps the bones.
» Don’t smoke.
