Factors Affecting Peak Bone Mass

Factors Affecting Peak Bone Mass

Peak bone mass is influenced by a variety of factors: some that you can't change, like gender and race, and some that you can, like nutrition and physical activity.
Gender: Bone mass or density is generally higher in men than in women. Before puberty, boys and girls develop bone mass at similar rates. After puberty, however, boys tend to acquire greater bone mass than girls.

For most people, the amount of bone tissue in the skeleton (known as bone mass) peaks by their late twenties. At that point, bones have reached their maximum strength and density. Up to 90 percent of peak bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and age 20 in boys, which makes youth the best time for your kids to “invest” in their bone health.

Building your children's “bone bank” account is a lot like saving for their education: The more they can put away when they're young, the longer it should last as they get older.

Osteoporosis is most common in older people but can also occur in young and middle-aged adults. Optimizing peak bone mass and developing lifelong healthy bone behaviors during youth are important ways to help prevent or minimize osteoporosis risk as an adult

Race: For reasons still not well understood, African American girls tend to achieve higher peak bone mass than Caucasian girls, and African American women are at lower risk for osteoporosis later in life. More research is needed to understand the differences in bone density between the various racial and ethnic groups. However, because all women, regardless of race, are at significant risk for osteoporosis, girls of all races need to build as much bone as possible to protect them against this disease.

Hormonal factors: Sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone, are essential for the development of bone mass. Girls who start to menstruate at an early age typically have greater bone density. Those who frequently miss their menstrual periods sometimes have lower bone density.
Nutritional status: Calcium is an essential nutrient for bone health. In fact, calcium deficiencies in young people can account for a 5- to 10-percent lower peak bone mass and may increase the risk for bone fracture in later life. A well-balanced diet including adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D is also important for bone health.
Physical activity: Physical activity is important for building healthy bones, and provides benefits that are most pronounced in the areas of the skeleton that bear the most weight. These areas include the hips during walking and running and the arms during gymnastics and weight lifting.

Magnesium

60% of the magnesium in our bodies is found in our bones in combination with calcium and phosphorus. Magnesium appears to enhance our bone quality. Studies suggest that it may improve bone mineral density, and not getting enough may interfere with our ability to process calcium.

Good sources include green leafy vegetables such as spinach, potatoes, nuts, seeds, whole grains including bran, wheat, oats, and chocolate. Smaller amounts are found in many foods including bananas, broccoli, raisins and shrimp.

http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/bone/bone_health/nutrition/other_nutrients.asp

Bone Support For Life

Our bones are fully capable of supporting us throughout our life. But ongoing factors like hormonal imbalance,  nutritional challenges, certain medications, and acid-forming diets place an excessive burden on our bones. Without continual compensation, the result is thin bone, weak bone, or both.

We can reduce the demands on our bones. When we combine a natural approach of nutrition, exercise and bio-replenishment support for bone-building cells, we can balance our bones metabolism and help to strengthen our bones. 

What are you doing for your bones? Be an advocate for your own health and live well!

US FDA says acid reflux drugs carry fracture risk

* FDA recommends lower dose, shorter duration of use

* Drugs include Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix

* Package insert labels to include fracture-risk warnings

NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators have cautioned doctors and patients of an increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist, and spine from high doses or long-term use of a widely used class of drugs to control the amount of acid in the stomach.


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http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/GERD/20030

Osteoporosis Drugs May Increase Broken Bones in Some Women

Watch ABC World News with Diane Sawyer


Sandy Potter, 59, of Queens, N.Y., was jumping rope with neighborhood children when she felt her thigh bone snap. "I went up in the air and I came straight down to the ground," Potter said. "The pain was excruciating." Potter, who was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 48…

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Stand Tall Against Osteoporosis

Stand tall against osteoporosis. No matter what your age, it’s never too late to stop bone loss now for better posture and fewer fractures down the road. According to research or other evidence, the following self-care steps may be helpful:

Pump it up

Make weight-bearing exercise a regular habit to increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis

Cut the caffeine

Avoid excessive calcium loss in the urine from by switching to healthier beverages

Aim for lifelong calcium and vitamin D nutrition

An extra 800 mg of calcium and 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D a day can help protect the bones of people at any age

Get your soy

Make tofu, soy milk, soy protein, and other sources of beneficial isoflavones a regular part of your diet

Watch the salt

Avoid excessive salt intake and high-salt processed and restaurant foods that may contribute to calcium and bone loss

Talk to your doctor


Source

Bone & Joint Health Tip: The Benefits of Walking Sticks

Walking sticks (also called hiking poles) are common in Europe, especially in Switzerland and Austria, where you'll often see older adults moving briskly over alpine hillsides, walking sticks firmly in hand. Now they're catching on in the U.S., too, as they are quite useful and provide more of a workout than you would get otherwise. In the first place, the sticks help to support your knees and back when you're hiking or walking. If you have joint or knee problems, sticks can help by distributing your weight more evenly and giving you more stability. They also make uphill climbs easier and improve your hiking form by helping to keep your momentum forward, with your chest and arms out in front. You'll burn 20 to 25 percent more calories per walk as a result of putting your upper body muscles to work with the use of a stick.


Source

Maintaining Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is the natural form of vitamin D for humans. Vitamin D3 is produced in the skin with sunlight exposure. Vitamin D2, known as ergocalciferol, is a compound produced by irradiating yeast with ultraviolet light.

A substantial body of research documents that vitamin D3 is the preferable form and researchers clearly recommend its use. Vitamin D3 has been found to be at least three times as potent as vitamin D2, and is more stable, safe, and useful in the body.


The less desirable vitamin D2 has been generally used in prescription vitamin preparations and in food fortification, while the nutritional and health food industries generally use the superior, natural vitamin D form, D3. Dr. John Cannell, vitamin D advocate and founder of the nonprofit Vitamin D Council, speaks of vitamin D3 in the following manner:


"If you take ergocalciferol, or "vegetarian" vitamin D, be warned. Ergocalciferol is not vitamin D, but a vitamin D-like patent drug whose patent has expired. It does not normally occur in the human body and is probably a weak agonist at the receptor site, meaning it may actually partially block vitamin D actions. Ergocalciferol is the villain in most of the reported cases of toxicity in the world's literature. All bets are off in terms of measuring blood levels if you take ergocalciferol. Some of the labs can pick it up, and some can't. Don't take ergocalciferol; it is not vitamin D." For more details, see Dr. Alan Gaby's summary of the research comparing vitamin D2 and D3.



Maintaining an optimum 50 - 60 ng/mL blood level of vitamin D is the simplest thing you can do to promote overall health. Ask your doctor to test your 25(OH)D level or order a Vitamin D test online at http://www.zrtlab.com/vitamindcouncil/ or http://www.grassrootshealth.net/daction.




Source http://www.betterbones.com

Calcium: Gotta Have It for Healthy Bones

Milk and other calcium-rich foods are an important part of a bone-healthy lifestyle that can not only reduce the risk of fractures as you get older, but may also protect against certain cancers.

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Bio Replenishments - Taking anti aging to the bone

Bio-Replenishment: Taking Anti-aging to the Bone

- By John Jackson, M.D.
Everybody needs healthy bones and joints. Bones store 99% of the body’s calcium. All body organs depend on a supply of calcium from bone – the brain 150 mg., the heart 100 mg., intestines 600 mg. and kidneys 150 mg. of bone calcium each day. This mineral management system is vital to such body functions as conduction of nerve impulses, hearing, heartbeat and blood flow, bowel movements, liver and kidney performance, acid-base balance and detoxification.

In childhood, we remake the entire skeleton every 4 years, 5 times on average by age 20. With advancing age the process slows considerably, due to a decline in production of the mineral managing molecule we made in abundance when younger. This is the reason, despite eating well and exercising regularly, we can start to suffer with bone and joint problems.

Osteoporosis has been diagnosed in 10-12 million, borderline bone density or osteopenia in 34-40 million and related joint problems, such as osteoarthritis, in 66 million. At least one third of Americans have bone and joint problems. The lifetime risk of brittle bone fractures, already 2 million per year and rising, is 50% in women and 25% in men.

When joints hurt conventional approaches focus on symptomatic relief by means of anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers. Cures are rare and if all else fails, surgery becomes a consideration. Common recommendations for bone disease include calcium and vitamin D supplementation, chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, isoflavones and hyaluronic acid. These alone are seldom effective. Hormones, such as estrogen and parathyroid hormone, may build some new bone AND carry the risk of cancer. Bisphosphanates (eg., Actonel, Boniva and Fosamax) are the most popular prescription drugs. These slow bone renewal and interfere with calcium release to vital organs. Jaw bone damage and loosening of teeth, as well as esophageal irritation and cancer have been reported.

Thanks to 30 years of research by Dr. Naidu, twice nominated for a Nobel Prize, there is now a safe and effective solution for healthy bones and joints. OsteoDenx is not a vitamin, mineral supplement or drug. It forms part of the revolutionary new class of Bio-Replenishments. Obtained from food, OsteoDenx is the same protein that a young body uses to remake the whole skeleton every 4 years. This mineral managing molecule also stimulates the cells that produce and maintain cartilage. A patented Synoportin delivery system directs nutrients to the joints.

OsteoDenx, as published in Osteoporosis International (2009), starts turning osteoporosis and osteopenia around in just 2 weeks! Side-benefits of the completely natural OsteoDenx, as published in Inflammation Research (2010), include supplying bone calcium to body organs and the lowering of elevated inflammatory markers linked to heart attack, diabetes and colon cancer.

Bone density increases can be seen in 3-6 months, 24% in less than a year for one of my female cousins at age 83! Young people may be candidates, just like a 16-year old boy who had 8 fractures by age 14, but none since starting OsteoDenx. Joints improve, as in the case of a 70-year old man whose amputated thumb couldn’t bend for nearly 7 years post surgical reattachment that started bending again 8 months after starting the natural product. Soft tissues benefit, based on my own experience with a bad ankle sprain that healed completely in 37 days, allowing me to run a half marathon with our daughters. As an internal medicine specialist for 25+ years, I have found nothing safer, simpler or more successful in securing the wellness of bone and joints than OsteoDenx.

Risk factors you can control

Risk factors you can control
Diet. Getting too little calcium can increase your chances of getting osteoporosis. Not getting enough vitamin D can also increase your risk for the disease. Vitamin D is important because it helps the body use the calcium in your diet.

Physical activity. Not exercising and not being active for long periods of time can increase your chances of getting osteoporosis. Like muscles, bones become stronger – and stay stronger – with regular exercise.

Body weight. Being too thin makes you more likely to get osteoporosis.

Smoking. Smoking cigarettes can keep your body from using the calcium in your diet. Also, women who smoke go through menopause earlier than those who don’t smoke. These things can increase your risk for osteoporosis.

Alcohol. People who drink a lot are more likely to get osteoporosis.

Medicines. Certain medicines can cause bone loss. These include a type of medicine called glucocorticoids (gloo-ko-KOR-ti-koids). Glucocortiocoids are given to people who have arthritis, asthma, and many other diseases. Some other medicines that prevent seizures and that treat endometriosis (en-do-me-tree-O-sis), a disease of the uterus, and cancer can cause bone loss, too.
 
Source   http://www.niams.nih.gov/

By 2020

Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Surgeon General's Report

By 2020, one in two Americans aged 50 years or older will be at risk for fractures from osteoporosis or low bone mass.


Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls.TM site for Girls


This girl-friendly Web site helps girls understand how weight-bearing physical activity and calcium can be a fun and important part of everyday life.

Also available for Parents.

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Peak Bone Mass

Peak bone mass refers to the genetic potential for bone density. By the age of 20, the average woman has acquired most of her skeletal mass. A large decline in bone mass occurs in older adults, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. For women this occurs around the time of menopause.

It is important for young girls to reach their peak bone mass in order to maintain bone health throughout life. A person with high bone mass as a young adult will be more likely to have a higher bone mass later in life. Inadequate calcium consumption and physical activity early on could result in a failure to achieve peak bone mass in adulthood.

Source

Harvard School of Public Health

Get your vitamin D. Vitamin D plays a key role along with calcium in boosting bone health. Look for a multivitamin that supplies 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day. If your multi only has 400 IU of vitamin D, consider taking an extra supplement to get you up to 1,000 IU or 2,000 IU per day. Some people may need 3,000 or 4,000 IU per day for adequate blood levels, particularly if they have darker skin, spend winters in the northern U.S., or have little exposure to direct sunlight. If you fall into these groups, ask your physician to order a blood test for vitamin D. Read more about vitamin D in the vitamins section of The Nutrition Source.

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Remember it's All About Absorption

A reader challenged me the other day to come up with one everyday food that will improve her calcium absorption and bone health. My answer surprised her since the food I suggested is so common that it is often overlooked. I decided to share the wealth and write an article about this bone-smart food so that you don’t miss out.




And believe it or not, that food is… the banana!
 
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Focus on Spinal Bone Health

World Osteoporosis Day 2010 will focus on raising awareness of vertebral (spinal) fractures. As many as one in three spinal fractures remain undetected and untreated, leaving the patient at risk of further fractures in what is often termed the ‘fracture cascade’. Vertebral fractures can lead to severe back pain, loss of height, spinal deformity, immobility leading to an increased number of bed days, and even reduced pulmonary function. They can have a profound impact on quality of life, restricting the inability to carry out daily activities at home and in the workplace, and can even result in premature death.
Join IOF and its member societies around the globe in their efforts to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of vertebral fractures through the 2010 World Osteoporosis Day Spinal Bone Health campaign!


Further information about World Osteoporosis Day 2010 will be available here in the coming months.

For more information

Understanding the T-score

Some people have low bone mass but do not yet have osteoporosis. This condition is called osteopenia, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as 10% to 25% below peak adult bone mass, or a T-score between –1.0 and –2.5 standard deviations below normal. It is very important for people with osteopenia to develop a good prevention plan to keep them from developing osteoporosis.

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•Osteoporosis causes over 1.5 million fractures each year in the USA

•Osteoporosis causes over 1.5 million fractures each year in the USA (National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2004)
•Osteoporosis causes over 300,000 hip fractures each year in the USA (National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2004)
•Osteoporosis causes over 700,000 vertebral fractures each year in the USA (National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2004)
•Osteoporosis causes over 250,000 wrist fractures each year in the USA (National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2004)
•Osteoporosis accounts for 70% of all fractures for people over 45 in the US (NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases - National Resource Center)

Green Tea May Benefit Bone Health

New research from Hong Kong found that green tea, one of the most popular drinks around the world, may benefit bone health and the researchers suggest it has the potential to help prevent and treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases suffered by millions of people worldwide.

The study was the work of Dr Ping Chung Leung and colleagues from the Institute of Chinese Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and you can read about it in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry where a web version appeared last month.

Other studies have already suggested that chemicals in green tea benefit health in many ways, for example by preventing cancer and heart disease, but this is the first study to pinpoint which of those chemicals may also improve bone health by stimulating formation and slowing the breakdown of bone.

To read more...

Bone Health and Pregnancy

Pregnancy, Breastfeeding,
and Bone Health

Both pregnancy and breastfeeding cause changes in, and
place extra demands on, women’s bodies. Some of these
may affect their bones. The good news is that most women
do not experience bone problems during pregnancy and
breastfeeding. And if their bones are affected during these
times, the problem often is corrected easily. Nevertheless,
taking care of one’s bone health is especially important
during pregnancy and breastfeeding, for the good health of
both the mother and her baby.

To read more...

You are at risk for osteoporosis:

You are at risk for osteoporosis:

• if you are very thin,
• if your calcium intake is low,
• if you eat too much animal protein,
• if you do not exercise, or are physically inactive,
• if you smoke cigarettes your body will absorb less calcium from your diet and smoking also affects your lungs, heart and skeleton,
• if you drink excessively - 2 or 3 alcoholic drinks everyday can be damaging to your health,
• if you reached menopause before the age of 45,
• if you have had a hysterectomy and your ovaries were removed,
• if you have an overactive thyroid or kidney disease,
• if you have eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia.

www.safemenopausesolutions.com/osteoporosis.html