Beat Bone Loss: An Menopause Guide To Building Stronger Bones

BEAT BONE LOSS A MENOPAUSE GUIDE TO

BUILD STRONGER BONES

Let’s talk about the menopause / osteoporosis and bone loss connection.

Osteoporosis means "porous" bone and is characterized by either not enough bone formation, excessive bone loss, or a combination of the two.

In osteoporosis, both your bone density and bone quality are reduced which will increase your risk of fracture. Why is this important?

Let’s first look at some quick facts from the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Approximately 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, and another 44 million have low bone density. One in two women and up to one in four men will break a bone in their lifetime due to osteoporosis. For women, the incidence is greater than that of heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined.

Six months after a hip fracture, only 15 percent of patients can walk across a room unaided.

Every year, of nearly 300,000 hip fracture patients, one-quarter end up in nursing homes, and half never regain previous function.

From these alarming statistics, we can clearly see that osteoporosis and osteopenia are serious public health threats.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE OSTEOPOROSIS?

The way you find out you have osteoporosis is through a DXA scan (that’s Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). It’s a painless test, kind of like an xray but very low levels of radiation, and you lay down on the machine and the machine does a scan which tells you your bone mineral density… the actual mineral content in your bone… And then it generates a score… and this score is called a T score.

And a T score is telling you how much your bone mass differs from the bone mass of an average healthy 30 year old adult.…

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE OSTEOPOROSIS?

A score of 0 means your bone density is equal to the norm for a healthy young adult...

A score +1 and −1 is considered normal or healthy. A T-score between −1 and −2.5 indicates that you have low bone mass often times called osteopenia.

A T-score of −2.5 or lower indicates that you have osteoporosis. The greater the negative number, the more severe the osteoporosis.

Most women are going to get these scans done by the time they’re in their 50’s and 60’s as a check in the box. Their doctors will order them… but that’s too late. So, if you haven’t had one yet… it’s a good idea to get a baseline… we don’t want to avoid doing something just because the answer may not be something we don’t want to hear. You can’t address something until you’re aware of it.

What’s important to keep in mind...if you are diagnosed with osteoporosis or low bone density, it does NOT mean you are actively losing bone.

You may just not have achieved peak bone mass in your younger years.

The National Institutes for Health suggests thinking about your bones as a bank account, where you make “deposits” and “withdrawals” of bone tissue.

“During childhood and adolescence, we have much more bone deposited than withdrawn, so the skeleton grows in both size and density. Up to 90 percent of peak bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and by age 20 in boys.” Which makes our youth ideally the best time to “invest” in our bone health…

UNDERSTANDINGPEAKBONEMASS

That doesn’t mean, however, that now is too late to invest in your bone health. It’s never too late.

But, if you had an eating disorder, poor nutrition, low calcium and vitamin d intake, if you smoked or drank excessively, if you led a sedentary lifestyle, or took certain medications, when you were younger, those all could have prevented you from achieving peak bone mass or a sufficient bone bank account.

Typically, peak bone mass, is achieved by the late 20s or by the time you turn 30.

After that, bone resorption can begin to exceed bone formation.

IS

THERE A HIDDEN CAUSE OF BONE LOSS?

A lot of people don't know this but there are different types of osteoporosis.

Primary osteoporosis typically occurs in postmenopausal women, and it’s related to decreased levels of estogen.

Estrogen has a protective effect on bone. When estrogen levels decrease (as they do during menopause), it causes an increase in the activity of osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone.

But then there’s a completely different cause of osteoporosis. That’s secondary osteoporosis.

This is where osteoporosis occurs as a result of behaviors, conditions, diseases, disorders, medications.

Just because you're a menopausal/postmenopausal woman does not mean that is the only cause of your bone loss. It could be more than just hormones, and you don't want to make assumptions.

Learn the other factors that deplete bones and accelerate bone loss in the video below...

BONECOACH™

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT & SHARE

Want more diet and lifestyle tips for stronger bones?

Like and follow the Bone Coach Facebook Page and Bone Coach Instagram page, subscribe to the Bone Coach Podcast, and subscribe to the Bone Coach Youtube Channel (just hit the red "Subscribe" button) so you can be notified of any new videos that can help improve your bones.

Let me help your friends and family. This may not impact your bone health directly but chances are you know someone who is trying to make sense of a recent osteopenia/osteoporosis diagnosis or trying to figure out why they are losing bone and how to address it. This could be a friend, aunt, mother, or even a group of people Forward this document on to them and help them get on the path to stronger bones. They can sign up free @ bonecoach.com

MEDICAL DISCLAIMERS

Medical Disclaimer: As a user of this guide, you understand this guide is for informational purposes only and does not provide health care, medical or nutrition therapy services; it does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease, condition or other physical or mental ailment of the human body; it is not to be used as a replacement or substitute for medical advice provided by physicians and trained medical professionals. If you are under the care of a healthcare professional or are currently using prescription medications, you should discuss any dietary changes, dietary supplements use, exercise recommendations, and any other changes with your doctor, and should not discontinue any prescription medications without first consulting your doctor.

Copyright © 2022 - Bone Coach - bonecoach.com