Bone Health and Osteoporosis
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by: Joe Ramirez
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Word Count: 551
To maintain a perfect health you have to take steps to prevent the occurrence of illness by adopting various approaches, rather than going for cure. To keep yourself strong and healthy your interventions should be natural, so that you can keep your body fit especially when you cross 70 and beyond.
Osteoporosis is one of the silent diseases that are not usually recognized till an occurrence of a fracture which happens when the bones lose their strength over several years. When you attain 50 years of age, the rebuilding could not cope up with the breaking down process.
As there are many causal factors which are responsible for osteoporosis such as family history, ethnic/ racial makeup, menopause surgery involving removal of ovaries, small body frame, life style and eating habits you should equip yourself with all the information. However, you may not be able to change or modify some of the factors; you can definitely bring in a quantum change in your lifestyle to avoid osteoporosis.
First and foremost, it is important for you to have a balanced diet enriched with calcium. You can find calcium in foods such as green leaf vegetables, canned fish like salmon, low fat dairy food. You can also consume calcium fortified foods available in the market.
If you are 50 years old you need a supplement of 1200mg calcium per day in your diet. To enhance the calcium absorption you also need Vitamin D in your body, which you can get in sufficient quantity when you go out in the sun for at least 20 minutes in a day. Alternatively, you can take foods rich in Vitamin D such as cereals, fatty fish, eggs and fortified milk.
If you are above 70 years of age you need 600 IU of Vitamin D and when you are below 70 years you require 400 IU to keep your bone healthy. You should also have a regulated exercise regime of about 30 minutes in a day to improve your muscle strength and to protect yourself in case you fall down.
When you play tennis, dance, jog or walk you lay stress on your bone which increases your bone density. The occurrence of osteoporosis in individuals may be due to the extensive usage of some kind of medications such as cancer drugs, anti-seizure medications, steroids and Depo-Provera used for birth control.
Too much of thyroid medication also makes your thyroid gland overactive stimulating your bones to a faster break down. Some factors that affect your bone health severely are alcohol consumption, excessive smoking of cigarettes, and drinking carbonated beverages in large amounts, sedentary lifestyle and intake of fatty food items.
You are at a higher risk of osteoporosis when your bones lose their strength due to the impact of any one of the factors listed above. So, while making efforts of intervention to get rid of these bad habits, you should try to stick your resolution. If you are unable to avoid these habits fully, then you can try to reduce them to some extent so that you can at least postpone the risk. However, remember that maintaining healthy food habits with proper exercise and stress-free life only can keep your bones healthy all through your life.
About the Author
Bone Density is surely going to be a hot topic in medicine for longer time to come. If you want to learn more about bone density test and bone density scan you can visit this site.
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