Perhaps many people do not really consider bone as a resource that needs protection and maintain it for life.
Here are 14 Surprising Facts About Healthy Bones, as quoted from the Health, Wednesday (28/12/2011), among others:
1. Bone is alive
Bones may seem hard as a rock, but actually living bone. A group of cells called osteoblasts, are constantly making new bone. There was also a group of cells called osteoclasts, which serves to destroy the bone.
The process of destruction and creation of new bone called bone remodeling. This is a reason the bone regenerate after a break, grow rapidly over the young. When old age of new bone formation is balanced by the destruction, so it may be thinning bones.
2. Saving the formation of bone from a young age
Play, sports, lifting weights, running, and almost every activity will trigger the muscles that move the bones to lay down more minerals, so that bones become stronger and more solid.
Bone density peaks around age 30 years and then began to decline. So the effort to maintain bone health should be maintained since his youth.
"When you have denser bones before osteoporosis, then it will not reach the level of deficiency that causes a fracture," said Felicia Cosman, MD, clinical director of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
3. Thinning of the bones can occur at younger ages
Young women who stop menstruating will have to imitate the process of menopause hormones, which cause bone loss. Anorexia in particular can be harmful to bone by stopping menstruation.
"If women do not menstruate, it will experience menopause at about age 20 or 30 years instead of 50-something years," said Dr.. Cosman. And the related decline in estrogen causes bone remodeling process to accelerate and become balanced.
4. Bone is a storage unit
If the body needs calcium for example nursing, then the body will take it from the bones if calcium intake is less. The only problem is that sometimes toxic substances, such as lead or mercury, may be lodged in the bone as well.
"Bone is a major storage site for calcium and phosphate, and storing substances such as heavy metals in low levels for long periods of time," explained Dr. Cosman.
5. Alcohol is bad to the bone
Too much alcohol can cause liver, brain, and other parts of the body, and alcohol can also be a major problem for bone.
Heavy drinkers tend to lose bone density, and when the density is quite low, it is called osteopenia. It is a condition that is lighter than osteoporosis.
But alcohol or heavy drinking habits over time can lead to calcium deficiency and more severe bone thinning known as osteoporosis. Smoking is also a known risk factor for osteoporosis.
6. Excess weight can help bone
Excess weight may make bones stronger, although research results have been contradictory.
Just as exercise and move the muscles can build strong bones, the body might respond to excess weight by putting more bone minerals to support the weight of it. But if overweight focused in the stomach, it can increase the risk of bone thinning.
7. Abdominal fat adverse bone
Results showed that premenopausal women who have excess fat in their midsection are at increased risk for osteoporosis. Because abdominal fat is different than fat on the thighs or buttocks. Abdominal fat is bad fat is metabolically very active and.
"Abdominal fat can produce any type of hormone that can increase inflammation in the body, and the end result of inflammation is increased bone dissolution," said Dr.. Cosman.
8. Drugs to strengthen bones
There are many drugs to strengthen bones are available in the market. But drugs are not necessarily suitable for everyone.
"Bisphosphonate drugs (Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel, Reclast) can reduce fractures, but these drugs have been associated in rare cases for jaw fractures and serious problem," says Dr. Cosman.
The experts recommend the use of drugs to strengthen bones need to be evaluated after 3-5 years to determine whether the drug is still needed.
9. Your dentist can diagnose
Bone loss can strike anywhere in the body, including the jaw bone. If the jaw bone density loss, the result may be shaky or missing teeth, gum drop, or pain caused by ill-fitting dentures.
According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, dentists can predict the occurrence of osteoporosis by X-ray investigations and observe the related health problems.
10. Foods that are good for bones
Foods rich in calcium are good for the bones. And even though milk is a good source, but not the only one.
Dr. Cosman recommends yogurt and cheese, and foods rich in calcium such as almonds and green vegetables. Even fruits or vegetables without calcium can be beneficial to bone.
"Fruits and vegetables can help buffer acid in the body, and a high acid content that is not good for the bones," says Dr. Cosman.
11. Supplements may not be best
The pills have been linked to kidney stones and studies show that a higher risk of heart attacks in people taking calcium than in those without.
An Institute of Medicine report in 2010 suggested that, most people in the United States get enough vitamin D and calcium in their diet without supplements.
12. Hip fracture is more likely than those with bone cancer
Although breast cancer and other cancers worried by many women, but osteoporosis-related fractures should also be a major concern.
In fact, a woman's risk for hip fracture due to osteoporosis is the same as breast cancer, ovarian, and risk of uterine cancer combined. Hip fractures most commonly occur in people over age 65 years.
Hip fractures can be potentially life-changing event or even life-threatening, and may require surgery and long recovery time. Some never fully recovered from a broken hip and had to use a walker or a wheelchair.
13. Rest does not strengthen the bones
"When a bone breaks, it will not become stronger than before the trauma. Even with fractures due to osteoporosis, the bone can be as strong as before the break after recovery. These fractures generally heal just as well," says Dr. Cosman.
14. Ethnicity affects bone strength
While anyone can develop osteoporosis, the risk is much higher in whites or Asians. Blacks or Hispanics, the risk for developing bone thinning is lower overall.
A survey found that, between 13-18 percent of women older than 50 years in the United States have osteoporosis in their hips, and including about 20 percent of female non-Hispanic whites, 5 percent of female non-Hispanic blacks, and 10 percent of Mexican-American women.
Men have a lower risk for osteoporosis, but the risk is still higher in white men and Asian than in those with other ethnic backgrounds.
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