Building Better Bones

It’s one of my favorite months: Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month! I spent two decades as the patient educator in the UAB Osteoporosis Clinic, and I have osteoporosis myself. So, you can imagine that bone health is important to me.

Let’s start with a fun fact about your bones: Every ten years you have a completely new skeleton! How is this possible? Bones are living tissue. To keep them strong, your body is always removing old, worn out, tiny, microscopic bits of bone and then replaces it with new strong bone. You can think of your bones as a bank account. You are constantly withdrawing and depositing bone. If you’re depositing more than you are withdrawing, then your bones get stronger. This is what’s happening in kids and young adults. But as we get older, that changes. Our withdrawals rev up. We become bone spendthrifts and lose more bone than we can replace. Ultimately, many of us end up with osteoporosis – weak bones that break more easily. You will often hear people call this “low bone density”.

Osteoporosis is a silent disease with no outward symptoms until a bone breaks. The word osteoporosis means “porous bones”. Maintaining good bone density is the key to preventing or treating osteoporosis and lowering your risk of breaking a bone. Osteoporosis causes two million broken bones (fractures) a year to the tune of $19 billion in related costs. The personal cost of breaking a bone is also huge. Broken bone can be painful, debilitating, and can even increase your risk of death. So, let's talk about how to keep this from happening to you. Let’s start with the risk factors for osteoporosis.  

Osteoporosis is Risk Factors You Can’t Control:

·      Being over the age of 50

·      Being Female (but men can and do get osteoporosis)

·      Menopause

·      Family History of Osteoporosis

·      Being Thin or Losing a Lot of Weight

·      Broken Bones or Height Loss

Osteoporosis Risk Factors You Can Control

·      Not getting enough calcium and vitamin D

·      Inactivity

·      Smoking

·      Drinking too much alcohol

·      Excessive weight loss

If you have osteoporosis, you will likely need to take a bone building medicine because lifestyle changes are not enough to make your bones stronger after the age of 50. I have taken several types of bone building medicines over the years and have had great improvements in my bone strength. I also make sure I’m getting enough calcium, vitamin D, and weight bearing exercise like walking. I feel good that I have been able to lower my chances of breaking a bone. If you think you are at risk for osteoporosis, talk to your doctor about getting tested. You can watch my videos on bone health here:  Tone Your Bones videos  You’ll find short videos on how to get the right amount of calcium and vitamin D, what osteoporosis is, how we diagnose it, and much more!

Here's to building better bones!

Beth Kitchin PhD RDN