Nutrition and Osteoporosis

Nutrition and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is something that affects everyone around us. They call it the "silent disease." It affects men, women, Hispanics, Asians, Caucasians, and African American's. You see it in people who are young parents, or those whom are elder. There are roughly over 40 million people that susceptible to osteoporosis. () There are many different causes and things you can do to help with the disease or prevent the disease from happening.

Osteoporosis is where there is a decrease in bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue. () Which leads to your bones being fragile and very breakable. () If you are someone that has had several different fractures past the age of 30 or 40 you are either going to have or already have osteoporosis. The bone is what makes you, you. The bone is a living and growing tissue. "That provides a soft frame work, and calcium phosphate a mineral that adds strength and hardens the framework." ()

There are several different things that come in to play when it comes to having or getting osteoporosis. There is gender, age, body size, ethnicity, and family history. Those are some of the things that you can't control. There are certain things that you are able to control. Like if you smoke, drink too much, not getting enough exercise, or a diet that is low in dairy products.

If you are women you have a greater risk of developing the disease. It usually happens to women who are going through menopause.() Especially women that are older than 60. () Men are also at risk, but not as great as women. Also if you are someone that has the small frame or figure and very thin are more likely to develop osteoporosis. Also if you have type 1 diabetes, premature menopause, anorexia, and rheumatoid arthritis.

How are you supposed to know if you have osteoporosis? There are several different things that you can do. One of the most obvious things that happen to people are fractures of bones. Not just a one-time fracture but when you begin to see a fracture occurring often, that is a very possible sign that you have the disease. You can also get what is called a dual-energy X-Ray absorptiometry. () The x-ray will take a picture of your bones. () This was developed around the 1980's and has becoming a huge help in determining the density of someone's bones. The results come to the doctor as what they call a T-score. () "If your bones come back with a +1 to -1 it means that your bones are normal. If it comes back -1 to -2.5 mean you have osteopenia, or low bone density. If the results came back lower than -2.5 you have osteoporosis." () All of this is something that you are going to have to discuss with your primary care physician or doctor. If the results come back to where you have osteoporosis, it is not the end of the world. There are so many different things that doctors can do for you, so that you can live a normal life.

There are several different things that you can do to treat your osteoporosis. One of the most common things that a