Question: Who is most likely to get osteopenia? Jan 14, 2009
Calcium is essential to maintaining total body health. Your body needs it every day not just to keep your bones and teeth strong over your lifetime, but to ensure proper functioning of muscles and nerves. It even helps your blood clot.
Most Americans think they are getting enough calcium everyday, but, the fact is, they are not – they’re calcium deficient. Calcium deficiency is usually due to an inadequate intake of calcium. When blood calcium levels drop too low, the vital mineral is “borrowed’ from the bones. It is returned to the bones from calcium supplied through the diet. The average person loses 400 to 500mg of calcium per day. If an individual’s diet is low in calcium, there may not be sufficient amounts of calcium available in the blood to be returned to the bones to maintain strong bones and total body health.
Osteopenia means low bone density. This differs from osteoporosis, a common condition in which the bones are brittle and weak and fracture easily. Osteopenia is not a disease but is a marker for risk of fractures. Older persons are at risk of having unrecognized osteoporosis, which may be discovered only after a fracture (such as a broken hip). Bone densitometry is a simple, painless test that measures bone density. If the bone density is already abnormal, lifestyle changes can help slow progression of bone loss and reduce the occurrence of fractures.
The United States faces a serious, yet largely unknown, public health threat: More than one in 10 Americans either has, or is at risk of developing, osteoporosis or other bone diseases. Concerns about the large toll that osteoporosis is inflicting on the nation has lead the Surgeon General to launch a major campaign aimed at improving bone health, a core component of which is Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Report of the Surgeon General.
The good news, according to the Surgeon General’s office, is that by getting enough calcium, vitamin D (vitamin D promotes absorption of the calcium) and other nutrients, including phosphates and magnesium, individuals are more likely to build strong bones. The bad news, however, is that more than 75% of Americans are calcium deficient. And while you may think you’re getting enough, consider this: the majority of women in a recent study underestimated their daily calcium needs by at least half.
To your Health,
Julie Riggs Med RD LD
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