National Osteoporosis Month

National Osteoporosis Month is marked throughout June every year. It is a special awareness month that makes it easier for people to find out about the critical importance of good bone health and osteoporosis prevention. Did you know that hundreds of millions of people in the world suffer from osteoporosis and low bone density? In fact, approximately 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and more than 44 million have low bone density, placing them at increased risk of osteoporosis. What exactly is osteoporosis? How can we prevent it? Is there any remedy for people suffering from the disease? Let’s get into the details.

Osteoporosis is a bone disease characterized by a brittle weakness of the bones. It is often called the silent disease because you cannot feel your bones getting weaker. In fact, you may not even know you have osteoporosis until after you break a bone.

We reach our peak bone mass between ages 25 and 30, and then, we slowly start losing bone mass at age 40. This is accelerated for women. They lose 1.5% to 2% of their bone density per year in the first 10 years after menopause, which is why women over 50 are particularly at risk of having osteoporosis. People with low body weight, and people with a family history of osteoporosis, are also at risk. However, the disease is preventable through the regular consumption of calcium and Vitamin D and treatable through physical therapy and medications.

A simple Bone Scan can determine if you have Osteoporosis, if you have a family history let your doctor know so they can test early. 

Melinda

References:

https://nationaltoday.com/national-osteoporosis-month/