How Strong are Your Bones?

Did you know that 1 in 2 women over 50 will break a bone?

We often take the strength of our bones for granted, because they’re hidden. Osteoporosis occurs in women and men. It can even happen when people are younger, if they have certain risk factors. We should all be concerned about osteoporosis and mindful of the things we can do to prevent it throughout our lives.

Osteoporosis also known as “porous bones”, occurs when the body makes too little or loses too much bone. In people with osteoporosis, bone is lost faster than it is created. As a result, bones become weaker and break more easily. Osteoporosis is common and affects one in two women and one in four men over the age of 50.

Breaks can occur in any bones, but the most common places for fractures are in the hips, spine, and wrist. These fractures can be life-threatening and cause long-term disability and pain. People who have osteoporosis in the spine can experience loss of height, stooped posture, chronic back pain and abdominal pain. Osteoporosis or low bone mass doesn't hurt, unless a person experiences a fracture, which makes early diagnosis difficult without specific testing.

Studies have shown that only one in four people under 55 take actions to prevent it, and recent Covid-19 lockdowns have made this number even lower!

From the time you are born until the age 25 or 30, you make more bone than you break down. Your bones reach their peak density at age 30, called peak bone mass. Your peak bone mass happens as a result of your nutrition, physical activity, genetics, and hormones. The more you can do to boost bone health in these younger years, the healthier your bones will be later in life.

Around age 30, the rate of bone formation starts to slow down. During perimenopause and for a few years after menopause, you lose bone quickly. In fact, you can lose up to 20 percent of your bone mass in the first five to seven years after menopause. Certain lifestyle factors, such as diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as well as some health conditions or their treatments can increase the rate of bone loss.

Risk factors

There are several risk factors for osteoporosis; smoking and excess alcohol intake, people over the age of 65, family history of osteoporosis, a history of fractures as an adult, and Caucasian or Asian ethnic backgrounds. Moreover, early menopause, low oestrogen levels, chronic health conditions, low calcium or vitamin D intake and sedentary lifestyles are risk factors.

Menopause is a common risk factor for osteoporosis that affects all women. The hormone oestrogen helps to keep bones healthy and strong. When oestrogen levels drop, women lose bone density faster than they did before. In fact, in the five to ten years following menopause, women can lose up to one-third of their bone density. This age-related bone density loss happens to men, too, also related to loss of sex hormones.

Symptoms

As mentioned earlier, osteoporosis doesn’t hurt. It is therefore often called a ‘silent disease’. Some people with osteoporosis don't know they have it until they break a bone or notice they are getting shorter or have a more hunched posture. If you experience loss in height or notice new back pain that does not improve, speak with your health care professional.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis can be confirmed with a bone mineral density test (BMD). This test should be obtained after a break or if you have symptoms of bone loss in your spine, such as loss of height. A BMD test is painless and safe. It uses a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to examine bone density.

Bone-density scanning is useful, but there might be other things going on within your bones, influenced by diet and exercise, which can’t be measured.

A fracture risk assessment tool called FRAX, calculates your absolute fracture risk and estimates your chances of breaking a bone in the next 10 years. Your GP can help you with this assessment. The tool can also be found online.

Prevention of osteoporosis

Preventing osteoporosis starts in childhood, when physical activity and a healthy diet rich in calcium, vitamin D build strong bones. These need to be continued throughout life. Also, avoid smoking and limit alcohol intake.

A healthy lifestyle therefore goes a long way in preventing and helping to treat osteoporosis:

• Calcium provides the strength to bone. Your body's supply of calcium, needed in all areas of the body, is primarily stored in bone. If your calcium intake is low, your body may remove it from bone so it can get to other areas where it is needed. Good sources of calcium include: dairy products (such as milk, yogurt and cheese), dark green leafy vegetables, sardines and salmon with bones, almonds, calcium-fortified foods and beverages. You can add more calcium with supplements. Aim for 1,000 mg calcium, depending on your age, in food and supplements each day.

• Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and strengthens your muscles so you can avoid falls. You can get vitamin D from food, supplements, and the sun. It's harder to get vitamin D from food or the sun, so you will likely have to take a supplement to get the amount you need. Both vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 are good for bone health. If you are under age 50, you need 400 to 800 IUs of vitamin D per day. If you are 50 or older, aim for 800 to 1,000 IU.

• Get your bones moving. Regular exercise helps strengthen your muscles and your bones. By exercising, you'll also boost your endurance and agility, which helps prevent falls.

Exercise for bone health

The two most effective types of exercise for bone health are muscle-strengthening and weight-bearing exercises.

Weight-bearing exercises include those you do upright against gravity, such as: walking, running, dancing, hiking, rope jumping, tennis, climbing stairs.

Muscle-strengthening exercises, also known as resistance training, include:

• Engaging in body weight exercises, where you use your own body weight as resistance such as TRX-training (Total Resistance eXercise). TRX training not only helps building strength and flexibility, but also creates good balance which cuts the risk of falls.

• Using elastic exercise bands.

• Weight-lifting, using weight machines

Stronger muscles help to prevent the falls that lead to broken bones in people with low bone mass. Functional movements also help maintain your strength and balance and decrease the risk of falls.

Talk to your health care professional before you start any exercise program, especially if you've already been diagnosed with osteoporosis. Once you get the green light, aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on most days of the week. Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of muscle strength training three times a week on non-consecutive days.

Find TRX workouts for Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced levels on the East Coast Training Zone website! You will also find new well balanced Weekly Workout Plans!