Osteoporosis is an exceptionally prevalent condition that unfortunately isn’t given enough attention. The main concern is that osteoporosis is insidious. What does this mean? It is a disease that has minimal to no symptoms. With osteoporosis, most people are only diagnosed with it once they’ve had a small fall and broken a bone, and this tends to be far down the line in terms of disease progression. The good thing about osteoporosis is that it is also preventable. Awareness is key. At Chirolink this is something that we insist on educating our patients about. Let’s prevent it! Let’s get the important checkups and let’s take our health into our own hands.
Firstly, what is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is ‘porous bone’. It is an insidious, slow-progressing disease of the bone that results in loss of quantity (not quality) of bone. This simply means that there is healthy bone, just less of it (you can imagine how fragile it would become). Osteoporosis is diagnosed once this density level dips below a certain level. Bone loss occurs because there is an imbalance in the normal and natural process that occurs with all bones and through all stages of life called remodeling. Like any other tissue within the body, when the cells age, they die but while this is happening, new cells are being made, replacing the old dying cells. At any given moment, there are millions of different cells and all of them are at different stages of maturity. When osteoporosis occurs, the death of the old cells is faster than the maturation of new cells. The osteoclasts (cells that break down old bone) exceed the activity of the osteoblasts (cells that lay down new bone), and this occurs because of various reasons.
What are some of the reasons or causes of osteoporosis?
The imbalance with the rate of bone resorption will exceed that of new bone formation naturally with normal aging (as with all our human tissues as we get older) but the speed may become considerably faster in certain conditions. This means that osteoporosis can occur in men (particularly over 70 years of age) and women (over 50 years of age) – despite it being known as a ‘female-only condition’.
Firstly, yes, the most common association with osteoporosis is menopause. After menopause, every single year, 3% of the calcium is taken out of the average woman’s bones and 50% of all Caucasian women experience an osteoporotic bone fracture at some point after menopause. These are frightening statistics. Why does this happen? Put simply, the sudden change in hormones (lack of estrogen) affects the normal healthy balance of calcium between the bones and the blood. But we will discuss the best way to combat this later.
Some of the other causes of osteoporosis are the long-term use of certain medications such as corticosteroids and specific cancer therapy drugs or other existing conditions such as hyperthyroidism. We are at higher risk with high alcohol consumption, smoking, and low levels of physical activity as well as low body weight, the Asian and Caucasian races, and if there is a family history of osteoporosis.
So, what are the symptoms?
There are no symptoms. Most people will only experience ‘symptoms’ of osteoporosis far into the progression and those are usually the symptoms of a fracture caused by osteoporosis more than the osteoporosis itself. Another sign may be an increased curve of the mid-back (hunched-over posture) and loss of height.
Shouldn’t we all supplement with calcium then?
The answer is no. Ultimately, we get enough calcium from the foods we eat! Be it dairy, almonds, dark leafy greens, or oranges, we generally all get enough. What we should be supplementing with is vitamin D and magnesium instead. Studies show that a large portion of the population is deficient in both minerals and at Chirolink, we cannot stress enough how important both of these are. Why? Vitamin D and magnesium are both required for the proper absorption of calcium from the food we eat and for storage of it in our bones. When calcium is in excess within the blood (without enough magnesium to store it in our bones), the body tries to store it in other places, and places that we don’t want it stored – such as arteries and tendons. The only time we recommend supplementing with calcium is when specific tests have been performed and it is recommended by your medical doctor.
If you refer to our blog post regarding vitamins and minerals, magnesium and vitamin D are discussed in further detail.
So, what do we do?
Firstly, we supplement it with vitamin D and magnesium (and the younger we start, the better) which will reap several other benefits too.
Another way to combat osteoporosis (and this is so important) is to keep our muscles strong. Why? It’s called Wolff’s Law. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Our muscles attach to our bones. And Wolff’s Law describes that the more traction and pull there is from the muscles on the bone, the more the bone strengthens to accommodate this consistent pull. It lays more bone down. The opposite also exists. If the muscles are not creating traction on the bone enough, the bone withers away. This is why we all read about weight-bearing exercise being so important – you’re strengthening your muscles and you’re using gravity to add more load to your bones.
Look after your health. We all hear it all the time, but we hear it for a reason. Go for a walk a couple more times a week. Try replacing one of your beers with a herbal tea. Try to cut down on the number of cigarettes your smoke. It can be challenging in this high-paced life but sometimes it’s the small things that make the difference. Let’s try not to take our health for granted.
Another important one – regular screenings! It could be the one thing to change everything. From 50 years old onwards we should all be going for regular bone density scans. Just like the regular mammogram, pap smear, or prostate screening, a bone density scan should be non-negotiable. If loss of bone density is caught early on, changes can be made! And with regular checkups, we can determine how quickly any deterioration is occurring.
In progressive cases, your medical doctor will prescribe a specific medication that will slow down this progression but it’s always best to avoid this when we possibly can as there are always side effects to medications.
So there is hope! Yes, osteoporosis is common and yes, it is a scary condition. Always remember that there are so many ways to prevent, monitor and manage this. All we have to do is be mindful of our bodies and take care of them (and go for bone density scans!). Here at Chirolink, we are more than happy to talk through all the options with you. We also stock the best brand of Magnesium and Vitamin D supplements in the clinic, so don’t forget to get some next time you’re in the clinic.