Osteoporosis it's not just for elderly women

Osteoporosis affects 10 million Americans, and another 18 million Americans have low bone mass putting them at risk for developing osteoporosis. It has been estimated that the direct expenditures for osteoporosis and related fractures are $14 billion each year. Experts stress that this is not a disease that affects elderly and postmenopausal women only. Osteoporosis occurs in all populations and at all ages. In fact 2 million men (men who have prostate cancer and those who use steroid-based medicine are at higher risk) suffer from osteoporosis. For more on men and osteoporosis go to the National Osteoporosis Foundation site http://www.nof.org/osteoporosis/men_and_... Women with eating disorders including anorexia are also at high risk. For the facts and figures on this disease the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Osteoporosis overview can be found at the following web site. http://www.osteo.org/osteo.html

Although we tend to think of bone as solid and permanent, bone actually continually under goes a process of removing old cells (resorption) and adding new cells (deposition). Problems arise tearing down is faster than the building up and there is a net bone loss. Peak bone mass occurs around age 30 after that bone loss accelerates. Bone is made mostly of a collagen framework with calcium deposited in that framework to make it strong and flexible. More than 99% of the calcium found in the human body is contained in the bones and teeth, the remaining 1% is found in the blood. The difficulty is that since calcium is such a vital nutrient for other body functions the blood level is tightly regulated. So, if you do not get enough calcium in your diet it is pulled from your bones resulting in significant bone loss.

While there are medications to treat osteoporosis and hormone replacement is common to treat and prevent osteoporosis, the focus of this article is to dietary approaches to treat and prevent the disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, optimizing bone mass early in life reduces the effects of later bone loss. They point out that only 10% of girls and 25% of boys between the ages of 9 and 17 receive adequate calcium intake through diet. As confusing as this disease is, it is clear that simply taking estrogen and calcium is not enough many other nutrients are involved. Magnesium, boron, vitamin D, vitamin C and trace minerals are important. Researchers at Tufts University conducted a four year study and found that the greater the intake of potassium the higher the bone density. It is thought that the potassium has a role in limiting the loss of calcium from bones. According to the Nurses' Health Study at Harvard Medical School, women who get plenty of vitamin K from lettuce and other leafy green vegetables were less likely to develop osteoporosis. Those who ate lettuce at least once a day had a 45% lower risk of fracturing their hips than did those who ate lettuce only once per week.