May is Osteoporosis Awareness Month
May is osteoporosis awareness month, helping raise awareness of personal risk for the disease.
As we get older our bones lose some of their strength naturally. Osteoporosis is a "silent" disease that gradually speeds up that process, weakening your bones to the point where they can break easily. One of the biggest indications that someone has osteoporosis is a gradual loss in height.
Risk factors you cannot control:
- Being female (women are at a much higher risk than men)
- Having a small body frame
- Having a family history of the disease
- Early menopause
- Ethnicity (white and Asian women are at higher risk, while African-American and Hispanic women have a lower, but still significant, risk)
Risk factors you can control:
- Eating a proper diet
- Getting regular exercise
- Don't smoke, drink too much alcohol, etc.
Especially for women, don't wait until you are older to be concerned about osteoporosis - by then, it's too late!
When making choices about your health, being healthy now will help you in the future. Not only will decreasing your risk from the above factors help you prevent osteoporosis, it will help reduce your risks for many other chronic diseases as well.
You can use the links below for more information and resources about osteoporosis.
Overviews and Information
- Osteoporosis (Health Information Library)
- Osteoporosis Overview (NIAMS)
- Compilation of Osteoporosis Links (NIH)
- Senior Health - Osteoporosis (Nat'l Institute on Aging)
- Nutrition for Everyone - Bone Health (CDC)
