ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Approximately 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and another 44 million have low bone density, placing them at increased risk. Yet nearly 80% of older Americans who suffer bone breaks are not tested or treated for osteoporosis. While women have it more often, it’s just as dangerous for men.
It makes your bones weak and brittle.
“It’s a silent condition,” described Christine Jablonski, MD, director of the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation for the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute.
Osteoporosis: it commonly occurs in the hip, wrist or spine and is responsible for an estimated two million broken bones per year!
“There’s low bone mass and there’s disrupted, microarchitecture of the bone, which makes you more likely to break with minimal to no trauma,” explained Dr. Jablonski.
Over the age of 50, one in two women will break a bone due to osteoporosis compared to one in four men, but…
“It’s not even on the radar for most men or for most clinicians when they’re treating their male patients,” said Dr. Jablonski.
Two million American men have osteoporosis, and men over 50 are more likely to break a bone from it than to get prostate cancer, and men are more likely than women to die within a year after breaking a hip.
“After hip fracture, there’s about a 20 percent one-year, 20 to 30 percent one-year mortality. And I think it’s more quoted as more like 30 percent with men,” Dr. Jablonski told Ivanhoe.
So what can you do?
“Getting enough calcium, making sure your vitamin D is optimized,” said Dr. Jablonski.
She says salmon and sardines with bones as well as green leafy vegetables, dairy, and tofu are all very good sources of calcium.
Weight-bearing exercises like walking and hiking, as well as muscle-strengthening activities build bone and improve balance. If you develop those habits, you can have healthy bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
You might notice a few changes in your body that mean your bones are losing strength or density. The warning signs include losing an inch or more of your height, changes in your natural posture, like stooping or bending forward more and lower back pain. Around one in three adults over 50 who don’t have osteoporosis have osteopenia. This means your bone density is lower than it should be for your age. Osteopenia can progress to osteoporosis if it’s not treated.
Contributors to this news report include: Cliff Tumetel, Producer; Chuck Bennethum, Videographer & Editor.
Sources:
https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/wp-content/uploads/Osteoporosis-Fast-Facts-2.pdf
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/osteoporosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351968
https://www.bonehealthpolicyinstitute.org/bone-facts
https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/preventing-fractures/general-facts/just-for-men/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4443-osteoporosis
* For More Information, Contact: Danielle DeJarlais
Media Relations & Public Affairs Manager for External Affairs at Orlando Health
danielle.dejarlais@orlandohealth.com
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