Bones are the living tissue which gives our body its structure. But without proper care.....
health
Bones are the living tissue which gives our body its structure. But without proper care, these bones become weak, which leads to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis, which means ‘porous bones’, is a disease that thins and weakens your bones, making them fragile and more likely to break. It is sometimes called a ‘silent disease’ because it can develop gradually over many years without causing any symptoms.
Osteoporosis is the hidden, underlying cause of painful, debilitating and life-threatening fractures. The most common of osteoporotic fractures are spine (vertebral) fractures, a major cause of pain, disability and loss of quality of life. Up to 70% of spine fractures remain undiagnosed, leaving sufferers unprotected against the high risk of more fractures. Back pain, height-loss and stooped back are all possible signs of spine fractures
Although men can suffer from osteoporosis, the vast majority of individuals affected by osteoporosis are women. Broken bones from osteoporosis cause serious health problems and disability in older women. In women over 50, osteoporosis accounts for more days spent in the hospital than diabetes, heart attack and breast cancer. A major reason for this is that women’s bodies produce less estrogen after menopause, and estrogen plays an important role in helping to prevent bone loss. Osteoporosis is a growing global problem that respects no boundaries: worldwide, fractures affect one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50. Due to the previous lack of focus on bone health, the number of hip fracture could be tripled by 2020.
The good news is that osteoporosis can be prevented and treated. It is never too late to learn how to maintain and keep your bones healthy. The things you do every day can be part of your plan to build strong bones:
Exercise: Just like your muscles, your bones get stronger if you give them a workout. Weight-bearing exercises are best for your bones. Weight-bearing exercises like dancing, hiking, walking on the treadmill or low-impact aerobics help build bones and keep them strong. They’re the ones that force your body to work against gravity as you move. That prompts the body to make new bone.
Muscle-strengthening exercises like lifting weights or even yoga and Pilates can help improve bone strength, balance and flexibility.
Focused on your diet: The best way to prevent osteoporosis is to build strong bones by getting adequate amounts of calcium along with magnesium, trace minerals, vitamins D3 and vitamin K2 from your diet. Eat foods that are good for bone health. Dairy products, dark leafy greens and fortified juices and cereals are excellent sources of calcium. Fatty fish like salmon, tuna and sardines are a great source of vitamin D. And sweet potatoes, tomato products and artichokes are a great source of magnesium. Steer clear of processed, sugary foods and include vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes regularly.
Minimise Stress: When you’re stressed your body releases a steroid hormone called, cortisol. If stress is prolonged, cortisol levels remain high, resulting in inflammation in the body. And when your cortisol levels are high, this affects your bone health. For instance, when your body is inflamed due to high cortisol levels, there is a reduction in your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) takes place every year on October 20, launching a year-long campaign dedicated to raising global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. World Osteoporosis Day involves campaigns by national osteoporosis patient societies from around the world with activities in over 90 countries.
World Osteoporosis Day is Organized by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) every year. Headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland, IOF is a non-governmental organization founded in 1998. The foundation functions as a global alliance of individuals and organizations concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and musculoskeletal bone disease. The goal of the Foundation is to increase the early detection of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases, as well as to improve the treatment of these conditions through international collaboration among national healthcare systems and governments.
The World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) 2018 campaign calls for global action to improve bone health and prevent fractures due to osteoporosis, including vertebral (spine) fractures which often remain undiagnosed and untreated.
How it all started: In a bid to create awareness regarding this disease, World Osteoporosis Day was launched on October 20th 1996 by the United Kingdom’s National Osteoporosis Society and supported by the European Commission. Since 1997, the awareness day has been organised by the International Osteoporosis Foundation. Since 1999 these campaigns have featured a specific theme.
In the initial years, ‘awareness’ was considered as the main theme topic of World Osteoporosis Day. By 1999, ‘Early detection’ became the theme topic of WOD. Many elderly women go undetected with back pain. Which is actually due to spiral fracture. So this theme topic helped a lot in spreading information on the symptoms and signs of spiral fracture among the public.
In the year 2000, the theme topic was ‘Invest in your bone’. By 2001, the theme topic was ‘Youth and osteoporoses. In the subsequent years, the following topics were considered as WOD theme topics - ‘Preventing a first fracture’ (2002), ‘Quality of life’ (2003), ‘Men and osteoporosis’ (2004), ‘Exercise’ (2005), ‘Nutrition’ (2006) and ‘Risk factors’ (2007). To enhance these programmes on a larger scale, in 2008 and 2009 the WOD theme was ‘Advocating for policy change’. In 2010, the WOD theme was ‘Symptoms and signs of spinal fractures.’
In 2011, the WOD theme was ‘C, D, E’ - Calcium, Vitamin D and Exercise. In 2015 the campaign focused on nutrition.
Osteoporosis is often considered to be an old person’s disease, but its prevention starts in the early days of one’s life. A healthy diet with bone-healthy ingredients goes a long way in ensuring healthy bones and therefore preventing this silent disease.
