By: Jean Johnson for Fibroids1Fifty percent odds might be attractive to some gamblers, but when it comes to women’s health, the picture is anything but pretty. Still, that’s the truth according to the National Institutes of Health: One in two women (and one in four men) will suffer vertebral fractures associated with osteoporosis. More, these numbers are expected to rise as the population ages.
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Tips from the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) for Reducing Your Risk:
Get enough calcium and vitamin D. Adults up to age 50 need 1000 mg daily and those older, 1200 mg daily. A glass of milk or yogurt contains about 350 mg of calcium and dark leafy greens are good sources as well, although many use supplements to ensure sufficient intake.
Engage in regular physical activity such as walking.
Don’t smoke.
If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.
The NOF also underscores that being an older female; having a thin, small-boned frame; having a family history of osteoporosis and being of white or Asian heritage increases the likelihood of osteoporosis. Women with any of these risk factors are encouraged to visit their physicians early and often.
According to the FDA, osteoporosis leads to 1.5 million fractures per year, mostly in the hip, spine and wrist
National Institutes of Health figures show that 34 million Americans are threatened by osteoporosis – “mostly older women, but older men get it too.”
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According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “there is no cure or proven preventative treatment for osteoporosis, but the onset can be delayed and the severity diminished.” That’s encouraging news since osteoporosis can leave a body so fragile people grow afraid to do the slightest thing for fear of fracturing a bone – things like stepping off a curb, or sneezing or bending over to pick something up. Even hugging a loved one can become an issue as the sad joke “Don’t touch mom, she might break,” attests. Not everyone is quite as pessimistic as the FDA, though. For instance Eric S. Orwell, M.D., program director of the General Clinical Research Center at Oregon Health & Sciences University and professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes, and clinical nutrition, tempers the government’s dire pronouncements.
“The good news is that osteoporosis is one of the best understood conditions that affects women’s health,” Orwell writes. “Osteoporosis is common, and it can be devastating…but it can be detected, prevented and treated. Be proactive, take the right steps to avoid osteoporosis and get tested when it’s appropriate, and you’ll experience how the stronger-boned half lives.”
Nancy Bergstrom’s Experience with Osteoporosis
Nancy Bergstrom of Ballard, Wash., has osteoporosis and says she is “79 and counting.” The fair-skinned, small-boned Scandinavian woman says she would have done things a little differently if she were younger. “Like getting tested,” she said. “That’s what they’re saying to do now I think, although I’m not sure how much they knew about it 20 years ago.
“And take calcium and exercise more than I did too, I guess,” she added. “I still do water aerobics once or twice a week, but I suppose I could have done more like making it a habit to take a walk after dinner or something.”
Bergstrom has a somewhat stooped posture and a “dowager’s hump” which is produced by collapsing spinal vertebra. She says that she was 5 feet 4 inches tall throughout most of her adult life, but in her more recent years she’s “shrunk to just five feet.” She also broke her hip years back when she slipped on Mount St. Helens ash that blanketed the Pacific Northwest after the 1980 eruption of the volcano.
“I’m a classic osteoporosis case,” Bergstrom said. “Light complexion and small bones. I was still working when I fell and broke my hip. All I was doing was just walking down the driveway to take the bus downtown to the office. That’s all it took. But I was fortunate, I had always gone to the club and taken exercise classes – and I worked quite a bit in the yard too and even mowed the lawn until I was in my 70s I think it was. Also, after the hip surgery and everything, I made sure to drink a lot of milk. Buttermilk is one of my favorites. I like a glass with a ham sandwich, dill pickles and potato chips.”
Bone Loss Facts
Eric Orwell, M.D., lists a number of bone loss risk factors in his primer on osteoporosis, and aging tops the list. “Just getting older is associated with bone loss. Loss of bone can be most rapid in the 70s and 80s.”
Second in line is menopause where the “loss of estrogen results in more rapid bone loss.” From there the physician identifies behavioral factors associated with lifestyle choices: “Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, inactivity and insufficient dietary calcium or vitamin D.”
In sum, we’re right back where we left off with Bergstrom. The idea is to keep in touch with your physician, keep moving so your bones won’t think it’s time to retire too soon, and get the nutrition a healthy body needs. Sounds simple. But like so many things that are simple, it’s not necessarily easy. Thus, perhaps a closer look is warranted.
Steps to Keeping Osteoporosis at Bay
Bergstrom is right. New tests have come along, and Orwell recommends that women over 65 get in line.
“Measuring bone density (usually by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DEXA) is an easy and safe way to determine bone strength,” he observed. “Younger women should also have a DEXA if they have any risk factors for bone loss, such as a family history of osteoporosis, smoking, low weight, medical conditions associated with osteoporosis, etc.”
Orwell also analyzes the exercise picture carefully and explains that two of the reasons it’s important in osteoporosis prevention is strength and coordination. Women who stay strong and light on their feet with good hand- and foot-eye coordination will be less likely to fall, he says – and consequently less likely to fracture a vulnerable hip, forearm or spine.
Finally, the physician notes that even after bone loss has begun there is still hope through medications that “can be used to prevent further loss or to add bone and reduce the risk of fracture.”
Bergstrom thinks that everything Orwell says is excellent news. “Because you know, genetics plays a significant role in this illness,” she said. “I think my mother had it even though there was no name for it back then.
“Mostly, I’m glad that my daughters know that they have to take care of themselves, and also that if they start having problems they can see their physicians for help. In both of their cases – they are in their 50s – they have had the bone density testing done. They also do quite a bit of walking since weight-bearing exercise seems to be an important ticket their doctors talk about whenever they go in.
“I’m just so very grateful they can make the connection between what I have gone through and their own futures. They are smart cookies,” Bergstrom said.
