12 Signs Your Bones Need Attention
Dr. McIlwain on CBS Early Show "Reversing Osteopenia"
Vitamin D Deficiency: A Hidden Health Epidemic Among African-American Women
Super Nutrients Keep Bones Strong
Soy keeps Bones Strong
|| Home | General | Research | Medical Info ||
|| Table of Contents | Medical Update Archive | Clinical Trials ||
Most of us know a middle-aged or older woman who is at risk for osteoporosis. This may be a friend, a wife an aunt, or a mother. Many of these women already have osteoporosis established and are at risk for a fracture. We must remember that osteoporosis may begin before age 40. These women have bones which have reached maturity and may be in the stage of gradual reduction in the total amount of bone density. They may have slightly more stooped posture than in earlier years. Their height may be slightly less than in their younger years.
As far as you and your mother are concerned, there are steps you both can take to delay or prevent (see Prevention) further problems of osteoporosis such as fractures. Your mother might fit into Stage 1 or Stage 2 osteoporosis (see Stages). In other words, the gradual loss of bone has begun but is not detectable (Stage 1) or enough loss of bone has occurred to be found by a bone density test (Stage 2).
This is an excellent time for you both to begin prevention. This is the time when a little effort and trouble may allow a large savings later in illness, expense, and loss of activity. If you or your mother have more than one or two risk factors, then the chances of osteoporosis are much increased. The more risk factors present, the great the need for early action.
This may be the only warning of osteoporosis before fractures in later years. Your mother may want to discuss these risk factors and her situation with her physician. Depending on her set of risk factors and other health status, bone density tests will detect osteoporosis if it is present.
If more than one or two risk factors are present then your mother should consider specific prevention measures as outlined in Chapter Five*. This may include calcium, exercise, and other measures. This action may do any or prevent further osteoporosis. If osteoporosis is found to be present by tests then there may be other measures taken, including the possibility of taking medicines. It is best not to wait until a fracture draws attention to osteoporosis. The fracture may be very limiting, and will probably be expensive. It is never too early to start prevention of osteoporosis.
You do have several risks. In most cases like yours, the likelihood of osteoporosis can be extremely high. Being 68-years-old, having lung disease for years, and requiring prednisone (a cortisone-like medication) all greatly increase your risk. Still, it is never too late to try to prevent future fractures. You should first try to remove all other risk factors if possible and pay attention to your calcium intake. If these measures are followed during the time of treatment of the lung disease with prednisone, you may be able to limit the negative effects of the drug. Bone density tests can tell if you have osteoporosis and whether other medications would be needed.
This question raises a few important points. Wrist fractures are one of the most common types in osteoporosis (in addition to hip and spine fractures). Osteoporosis is the most likely problem in this sort of fracture, especially if it happened with only mild injury. If the bone strength had been normal, presumably a mild injury would not cause a fracture.
A few practical points are worthwhile to consider. Your orthopedic surgeon may be able to tell if the bones have osteoporosis from the wrist X-ray, although in many cases this is not possible. If the X-rays do not give an answer, ask your physician if an osteoporosis screening test or other tests should be done to confirm the osteoporosis. If no other medical problems are found then it may be useful to consider specific measures to try to prevent further fractures. Remember, if this is a fracture caused by weakness due to osteoporosis, it would suggest Stage 3, osteoporosis with fractures (stages). The bones have gradually become less dense and have weakened enough that injuries which may have gone unnoticed earlier now result in fractures. Although this wrist fracture is the first symptom your wife exhibited, it has occurred quite a few years into the process of osteoporosis.
Treatment includes removal of risk actors, addition of calcium to the diet, and perhaps other medications. This is an excellent time for your wife to begin managing her osteoporosis.
What a common problem this is! Many families are so busy that they often don't eat together. As seen in Chapter Seven*, calcium in the teenage years is important because it allows full development of the bone density at maturity. If the body does not have enough calcium during these rapidly growing years then it may not be able to give the maximum "supply" of bone to prepare for the possible loss of bone later in life. Research shows much of the body's bone growth happens during our teenage years. It is hard to predict which teenager will develop osteoporosis as an adult. Until we can better predict this, researchers tell us that it does seem to matter how well we build our bones during these rapid growth years. The person will not be able to feel any effect during the early years. But when the maximum supply of bone is built at an early age, that person will be more resistant to osteoporosis later in life.
Our busy schedules, combined with personal tastes in food, attempts to reduce calorie intake and control weight, make proper calcium intake difficult at times. Be as sure as possible of proper overall nutrition. Then if maintaining 1200 mg of calcium daily is still difficult, don't hesitate to add a calcium supplement for teenagers. Knowledge of calcium content of various foods, including fast foods, will be useful. Also, education of teenagers can be effective. Help your teen find ways to be sure of calcium intake which can fit with her desires for weight control. We have found most teenagers are eager to learn and are capable of managing calcium in their diet. Books available on Bone Boosting foods for teens are available on our publication page.
You have probably consciously avoided milk and dairy products throughout your life. Since these happen to be one of the main sources of calcium in our diet, it is probably safe to assume that you have a major risk actor of low calcium in the diet for many years. This makes you more likely to have developed bones that do not have the maximum density. Because you are probably close to your maturity far as the bones are concerned, you may have to deal with a less-than-average amount of maximum bone. If you happen to develop osteoporosis later, you would have less total bone supply to last throughout your life. It is better to build the most possible bone density before maturity than to try to build more bone after we reach maturity.
You may have a true allergy to milk. If so, then you must avoid all milk products. It is common to have an intolerance to milk without a true allergy. This means a person may have abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, or diarrhea after drinking milk. There may not be a true allergic reaction. Intolerance may be caused by low or absent level of he enzyme lactase that is needed to digest milk. As a result, abdominal pain and diarrhea occur. Over the years, these persons usually learn not to consume milk products.
A product is now available that can be added to milk which corrects this lactase deficiency. It is sold at drug stores without a prescription and comes in drops or tablets which can be added to milk to prevent these problems. Also, some dairies add lactobacillus to milk which may help in some milder cases. Discuss this with your physician.
It is not too late for you to take proper action to help prevent osteoporosis in later years. You should simply supplement your diet with calcium. You should remove any risk factor possible and consider discussing other medicines with your physician when you reach menopause (usually 45-55 years old). Avoidance of this risk factor may help protect you from future osteoporosis despite your lifelong low-calcium intake. Bone density testing may be helpful at some point to tell if osteoporosis is developing.
Additional Resources: Bone Boosters, Super Calcium Counter, The Osteoporosis Cure.
|| Home | General | Research | Medical Info ||
|| Table of Contents | Medical Update Archive | Clinical Trials ||