In Canada, November is Osteoporosis Awareness month. Its focus is to bring awareness, education, and inspiring behavioural change in the critical importance of good bone health and osteoporosis prevention. As common as it may be, osteoporosis is not a normal part of aging and can be prevented. The purpose of today’s blog is to bring more attention to the issue and provide information to our readers on how you can reduce the risk of you or your loved ones from getting this life-altering bone disease.
What is osteoporosis?
In its most literal sense, the osteoporosis means “porous bones” and is a disease that causes a loss of bone density. When a person has osteoporosis, mild stresses such as coughing or bending over can cause these porous bones to fracture with life-threatening outcomes. At least 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will break a bone due to osteoporosis in their lifetime. As many as 28% of women and 37% of men who suffer from a hip fracture will die within the following year. With approximately 2 million Canadians suffering from osteoporosis, fractures caused by the disease are more common than heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined. Osteoporosis also has an impact on the quality of life of those affected, including a life-altering loss of mobility, a loss of independence, lower self-esteem, and pain and suffering. While the bone disease is most prevalent among those ages 50 years or older, it can affect people of any age.
What are some of the risk factors?
Low calcium intake
Having a diet low in calcium and vitamin D, especially during a child’s development to 20 years of age, increases the risk of osteoporosis later. Each person has a “bone bank” account in which they can “deposit” and “withdraw” bone tissue from. After the age of 20, bone “withdrawals” begin to exceed “deposits.” Therefore, you are more likely to develop osteoporosis if you did not reach your peak bone mass during your bone development years.
Age
During childhood and teenage years, new bone mass is developed faster than old bone mass is lost. This results in heavier, denser, and larger bones. However, just as we mentioned in the above paragraph, bone formation begins to slow until we reach the peak of our bone mass. At this point, the human body will lose bone mass faster than it can develop.
Sex
It is a known fact that women are more prone to osteoporosis than men because women tend to have smaller, thinner bones. In addition, estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, also protects a woman’s bones. When women reach menopause, estrogen levels decrease sharply, compounding the risk of developing osteoporosis in women.
Sedentary lifestyle
Load-bearing physical activities develop strong bones and promotes balance and good posture, all of which are beneficial to your bones and reduces the risk of falling. People who spend a lot of time sitting have a higher risk of osteoporosis than those that are more active.
Tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption
While the precise role that tobacco plays in osteoporosis remains unclear, it has been shown that tobacco use contributes to weaker bones. For alcohol, drinking on occasion will not have long-term effects on your bones; however, regular consumption of more than two alcoholic drinks a day can increase your risk of osteoporosis.
How can I prevent osteoporosis?
While there are some factors that play in how much of a risk your body is to osteoporosis such as race, gender, and age, you have a direct influence in these factors:
Nutrition
Calcium is essential to proper bone health. Men and women between the ages of 18 and 50 require 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day. This amount increases to 1,200 milligrams for women at the age of 50 and men at the age of 70. Vitamin D is also vital to maintaining a healthy bone density to increase absorption of calcium in the body. Healthy adult between the ages of 19 and 50, require 400-1,000 IU (international units) of Vitamin D daily. If you are over the age of 50, or are a younger adult at high risk, daily intake should be between 800-2,000 IU daily through food or supplements.
Consider the bioavailability of the food and calcium supplements you consume as well. Bioavailability refers to how much calcium is available to the body and how much of it can be absorbed by the body. It is important to consider how well it can be absorbed, too. For example, vegetables such as spinach and rhubarb contain calcium, but may also contain oxalates that bind with it. In these cases, the calcium would then be unavailable for absorption and cannot be considered good sources of calcium.
If you are on calcium supplements to increase your daily intake such as calcium carbonate or calcium citrate, consider taking them with a meal as they are not as easily absorbed into the body on an empty stomach.
Lifestyle
When bones are not being used for exercise, it tells that body that it no longer requires the bone mass it once did. This results in weaker, thinner bones and increases the risk of fractures. Apart from losing muscle mass, this is the same reason why it is vital for astronauts working in microgravity to exercise daily. Maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle can slow bone loss and reduce the chances of osteoporosis.
If you are over the age of 50, consider low impact exercises such as Tai Chi. Research has shown that Tai Chi improves body strength, balance, and mobility without the added risks of other high impact exercises. In addition to being a highly accessible and affordable activity, Tai Chi is considered to be a safe form of exercise for people with low bone density.
Conclusion
What was thought to be part of aging for everyone, osteoporosis studies have shown that this disease can be prevented by maintaining an active lifestyle and smart eating habits. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult to exercise for everyone, especially in long-term health care facilities where residents are at higher risk than the rest of the population. In order to maximize the protection and safety of those living in these homes, strict protocols must be enforced. This includes self-isolating in their respective rooms for several weeks, increasing stress levels and the need to socialize with their families.
Access eHealth Technologies software, AccessEMR, alleviates two of these pain points. First, families can reconnect with their loved ones once again using our virtual video conferencing solutions. Secondly, physiotherapists can schedule activities remotely and provide guided exercises for residents to follow. Finally, AccessEMR is equipped with trend analysis tools to predict potential falls within the facility. For more information, please read our family communications blog.
AccessEMR will provide better solutions for nursing homes and home care facilities so they can allocate more of their efforts on what is most important: Providing better quality of care to their patients. Book a demo with us today to learn more about our product features and how we aim to improve long-term care facilities across the North America.