subject: Menopause And Osteoporosis Remedies Revealed [print this page] As a woman gets closer to the age of perimenopause, there are several health risks which cannot be overlooked. One of them is osteoporosis, and it is especially risky at this time of a womans life. Here are the reasons you need to evaluate your risk and find ways to make sure you are not a prime candidate for this bone disease.
Most people have heard of osteoporosis, but dont know how dangerous of a disease it really is. Osteoporosis is when the bones become porous and lose their strength, sometimes to the extent that a persons own weight can damage the bones. Im sure youve seen older men and women that lose height, and sometimes have a hunched over look about them. This is due to actual bone loss, and can have deadly consequences for many. Not only are the bones much more brittle and easily broken, but they take much longer to heal as well. At this stage in life, a badly broken bone can lead to debilitating life changes. It doesnt have to be that way though, if you take care of your bones.
When a person is young, the bones get longer and denser each year as you grow. Up until about age 30, the bones continue to get denser each year, then they reach their peak. After that it is a matter of how well you take care of them with nutrition and exercise. The problem can arise for women when an illness or surgery leaves them incapacitated for a time, or when early menopause starts to set in. If a womans bones never really reach their full density before this happens, she is at a severe risk of losing more bone mass much earlier in life, and that risk will continue into later life as well if steps are not taken to correct it.
As a woman ages, the process where the body replaces and repairs bones (called remodeling) takes longer due to the lack of hormones in the body, which are a major player in this process. When the body becomes less efficient at rebuilding bones it takes longer to accomplish, so any further setback such as a loss of calcium or poor diet can inhibit this process even more.
The main remedy of course, is to take a calcium supplement with vitamin D every day. This is critical for all women, but especially pre-menopausal women, due to their falling levels of estrogen. Why? When estrogen starts to decrease, it means that less calcium is being absorbed into the body. Since estrogen actually helps the body to absorb calcium, when you have less estrogen you will need to really increase the calcium intake to at least 1,000-1,500 MG per day. Since calcium is used in other processes in the body, if you dont have enough in your bloodstream the body will actually cannibalize it from the bones, so keeping a steady stream of calcium in your diet is extremely important.
Another way to help keep your bones stronger is to increase your natural estrogen levels, either by taking a natural supplement to boost it, or some other means. Talk to your doctor to make sure you are getting what you need this is something you dont want to second guess. Of course exercise is also very important in many ways, and keeping healthy bones is one of them. Many nutritionists and doctors recommend some light weight-training for a woman, which helps to keep the bones strong. The bottom line is, take care of your bones and they will take care of you!
