Do you have weak bones? It could be Osteoporosis
Your body needs minerals, calcium, and phosphate to build and support your bones health. The bones in your body are living tissues. Bones have different stages of growth, and while growing old bones are replaced with new bones. Often doctors say your entire skeleton is re-established about every 10 years. However, the process slows down with increasing age.
You will have healthy and strong bones as long as the process of new and old bone growth is balanced. However, bones become weak when your new bone creation delays or any other bone conditions such as Osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is also called bone loss, and with increasing age, it is a common condition in many people. Some people have Osteoporosis inherited from families called hereditary. White people and older women are more prone to Osteoporosis. Delayed menopause might also increase the risk of Osteoporosis.
What is Osteoporosis?
If the calcium and phosphate that present in your bones are reabsorbed instead of restoring them into your bones, then your bones become weaker and more delicate. At a particular stage, the condition is medically called Osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a bone condition where your bones become weak & brittle. These weak bones are more vulnerable to fracture (break). Your bones even lose their density in this condition.
What causes Osteoporosis?
It is natural that when people enter into their 40s and 50s, they start to lose strength in their bones. Women over 50 years of age and men over 70 years of age are at greater risk of developing Osteoporosis. The bone mass decreases even in some people above 30 years of age due to Osteoporosis, and in such cases, you should preserve your bone health as much as possible.
Your Lifestyle Causes
Your bones become weak when there is lack of adequate calcium, vitamin D, and proper exercise that helps to build and keep your bones strong.
Your bones become weak:
- if don’t take enough calcium foods
- if your body unable to absorb sufficient calcium from the foods you consume daily
- your body eliminates excess calcium through urine
Certain habits like drinking alcohol, smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle can harm your bones and makes them weak. Women with no menstrual periods for an extended period are also more vulnerable to Osteoporosis.
Medical Conditions Causing Osteoporosis
Long-term medical conditions that make you bedridden makes your muscles and bones bearly used. Lack of physical movement in bones can make your bones weak.
Other medical conditions that might cause bone loss are:
- Arthritic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis
- Celiac disease(a chronic digestive disorder )
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Long-term kidney or liver disease
- Cancer
- Excessive thyroid hormone production
- Overactive parathyroid and adrenal glands
- Diabetes
- Organ transplant rejection
- Seizures
- Gastric reflux
- Gastrointestinal surgery
There are many conditions that make your bones weak. Some eating disorders also increase the risk of Osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis Preventive Tips
Adequate nutrition intake in the diet and regular exercise plays a dominant role to keep your bones strong and healthy throughout your life. Follow these measures for your bone health.
- Take high protein foods such as soy, legumes, seeds, nuts, green vegetables, and some dairy to get sufficient proteins to your body.
- Being underweight or overweight increases the risk of bone loss and fractures.
- Calcium intake is essential where men and women of age between 18 and 50 require 1,000 mg of calcium per day and whereas women of age above 50 years and men above 70 years require 1,200 mg of calcium per day.
Low-fat dairy products, green leafy vegetables, canned salmon, soy products, calcium-enriched cereals and orange juice etc. are some excellent sources of calcium. It is even recommended to take calcium supplements if you don’t get enough calcium through your diet.
- Vitamin D increases the ability to absorb calcium in your body and also improves your bone health in other ways. Sunlight is a good source of vitamin D. In case of limited exposure to sunlight, and you can take vitamin D supplements or multivitamin products.
- Exercising daily benefits your bone health no matter when you start. It helps you to build stronger bones and reduces the pace of bone loss.
Strengthening exercises along with weight-bearing & balance exercises help to strengthen your muscles and bones of your arms, legs and spine. Walking, jogging, skipping, swimming, cycling, and other exercises on machines under trained professionals can provide good cardiovascular health.
A number of treatment options are available to improve bone health and prevent Osteoporosis. A perfect diet plan and some lifestyle modifications can strengthen your bones. For more detailed information or have any bone problems, consult Dr. Ajay Tiwari, one of the best orthopaedic and trauma surgeons in Hyderabad. He has 15+ years of experience in treating different bone conditions. He is one of the best doctors for osteoporosis treatment in Hyderabad.
