Osteoporosis Risks & Prevention Options
Osteoporosis is a condition that involves the loss of bone mass, which results in chronic, progressive bone weakening.
This "thinning" of the bones can be caused by a number of disorders, but is most frequently seen as a consequence of age.
Osteoporosis is much more common in women, who usually begin to develop the disorder around the time of menopause, a time marked by a drop in the body's estrogen level.
While most cases are associated with menopause, any other condition that causes a drop in estrogen can lead to osteoporosis.
Besides advancing age and being female, other risk factors for osteoporosis are:
- Early menopause;
- Family history;
- White or Asian race;
- Not getting enough calcium in your diet;
- Smoking;
- Alcohol;
- Lack of exercise;
- Low body weight;
- Small stature.
Osteoporosis causes approximately one million fractures in postmenopausal women every year.
Tens of thousands of deaths in women each a year are associated with complications of osteoporosis.
How To Recognize Osteoporosis:
The pain of osteoporosis often goes unnoticed. The following signs indicate you may have osteoporosis:
- Height loss
- Back pain
- Bone fragility
- Bone fracture
Fractures that occur as a result of very minor trauma are often the first sign of osteoporosis.
About 35 percent of vertebral fractures are not painful. They are sometimes only detected by height loss, chronic back pain, and kyphosis.
Hip and other serious fractures are usually caused by a fall.
Osteoporosis Prevention Is The Key:
First and foremost, make sure that you exercise using a properly structured fitness and nutrition program...
And do it on a regular basis! This is an excellent option for preventing osteoporosis. This must include exercise with weights. It is very important for good health and strong bones.
Make sure you are getting enough calcium. Calcium builds strong bones.
Foods such as such as milk; yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products; and dark green and leafy vegetables do contain calcium.
But, unfortunately, you just cannot get enough from these food sources.
Therefore, you must take a calcium supplement to ensure you are getting enough.
Don't Smoke. Besides the many health risks caused by smoking, women who smoke have more chance of getting osteoporosis.
Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. Alcohol can hurt the cells that build your bones. It also lowers the amount of calcium in your body.
You must ensure that you are getting all of the vitamins and minerals your body needs to promote good health. To do this, you have to take a good quality daily multi-vitamin.
Osteoporosis begins when you are a child and is often not found until you are much older. That is why it is so important to eat well and get lots of exercise to keep your bones healthy and strong.
Essential Vitamins Needed:
In addition to calcium, your body needs magnesium, a mineral necessary to activate the chemical reactions that form new bone.
Another mineral important to normal bone formation, manganese, is needed to help make your bones more resistant to breaking.
Your body also needs folic acid to properly build the fibrous collagen framework of bone onto which to mineral salts deposit. Without a strong framework, the bone will become weak and defective and more prone to breakage.
Vitamin B6 is also needed to build the fibrous framework that supports the bone minerals.
Vitamin C is very important for collagen and connective tissue formation.
A deficiency of vitamin B12 prevents your body's bone building cells from functioning properly.
There are many essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs on a daily basis to help prevent and treat osteoporosis but the best choice by far is coral calcium and above sea coral calcium is even better.
When selecting a coral calcium product, it needs to contain 1.5 grams of above sea coral calcium per serving, complete with a certificate of analysis on display confirming the potency.
In addition, and just as important, your coral calcium should be fortified with both a red and green phytonutrient mix using New Zealand grown ingredients.
It's widely accepted that coral calcium, containing a plant- based red and green phytonutrient mix, reflects the best possible combination for osteoporosis.
I can confidently recommend this type of coral calcium product to you and have received only very positive feedback from the individuals who have already used it.
For more information on how to prevent and relieve osteoporosis please visit:
http://www.womens-health-fitness.com/osteoporosis.html
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