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Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is most prevalent in post menopausal women, but the condition can affect men too. If you suffer from osteoporosis your bones will weaken and be prone to breaking, in fact is has been estimated that maybe as many as half of all women over the age of 50, and a quarter of all men over that age will break at least one bone due to osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis Risk Factors

So who is mostly at risk of suffering from osteoporosis, surely it doesn’t happen to everybody. Well, the major risk factors include:

• age (we can’t do anything about that can we, except die young which kind of defeats the object)
• smaller, thin people are more at risk of developing osteoporosis (panic over for me then)
• osteoporosis is prevalent in some families, so if you have a family history of it then you are at greater risk
• some medicines do increase the risk of osteoporosis
• white or Asian women have a higher chance of suffering from osteoporosis
• if you have osteopenia (a low bone mass) you are at risk

Reducing the Risk of Osteoporosis

There are three main factors which can all significantly help to reduce the risk of suffering from osteoporosis:

• smoking – if you smoke, stop now for a whole host of reasons
• exercise – if you keep fit and active you will decrease the chances of getting osteoporosis
• diet – a diet which is rich in calcium and vitamin D will reduce the risk of you getting osteoporosis

Calcium Rich Foods

Calcium rich foods can help to reduce the risk of suffering from osteoporosis, try increasing your daily intake of:

• milk
• cheese
• yogurt
• orange juice with extra calcium

Vitamin D Rich Foods

Vitamin D rich foods include the ones above (that’s lucky, a double whammy) as well as:

• egg yolks
• cooked trout, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, tuna – it all sounds a little fishy to me!