“Silent” Osteoporosis

          US Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona recently released a report on osteoporosis that is more the size of a book - 400 pages – than a report.  Surgeon General Carmona has good reason to release such an extensive report on osteoporosis. 

It is estimated that some 10 million Americans, age 50 and older, already have osteoporosis and another 34 million are at risk.  By 2020, as the population ages, those numbers are projected to grow to 14 million plus 47 million more at risk.  That would equate to one in two Americans over the age of 50.  Osteoporosis affects men and women of all races though it is four times as common in women.

The report calls osteoporosis a “silent” condition, because many Americans are unaware that their bone health is in jeopardy. Four times as many men and almost three times as many women actually from osteoporosis than are aware of having the disease.

The good news is that you are never too old or too young to improve your bone health. With healthy nutrition, physical activity every day and regular medical check-ups, Americans of all ages can have strong ones and live longer, healthier lives.  Likewise, if it is diagnose in time, osteoporosis can be treated with new drugs that help prevent bone loss and rebuild bone before life-threatening fractures occur.

How do you know if you are at risk for osteoporosis?  While everyone should be aware of the importance of healthy bones, there are several key factors, which put a person at increased risk for osteoporosis:

• Suffering a bone fracture as an adult

• Being unusually thin

• Smoking

• Having a family history of the disease

        Other personal risk factors include heavy consumption of alcohol , poor diet, use of steroids, early onset of menopause and severe weight lose.  The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that post-menopausal women under age 65 with one or more of these risk factors should have a bone density test, as should all women age 65 and older. 

          The best known prevention against osteoporosis is consuming an ample amount of calcium and is a very easy step to take.  Depending on your age, most people should be consuming 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily.  If you are eating three servings of dairy foods daily as part of a balanced diet, you should easily reach the 1,000 to 1,200 requirement.  In addition to dairy products, you can boost your calcium intake by eating dark green vegetables such as broccoli, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens and kale.  Shrimp and oysters are also rich in calcium.

          If you would like to view a condensed version of the Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis, visit the web site: www.surgeongeneral.gov.