Osteoporosis in Women

Osteoporosis is a disease that affects your bones and they become really fragile.  This disease can affect anybody, but it mostly occurs in females than males. This disease varies between ethnic groups and ages.  The ones that are at the highest risk of developing this diseases are Caucasians and older women and people that are lactose intolerant because it is hard for them to get the calcium they need. The good news is that there are ways to prevent this disease from affecting you.

Caucasian women that are 50 and older have a 20% chance of developing the disease.  Most women have low bone mass, but they have not been diagnosed with osteoporosis yet.  Another interesting fact is that as you age you will lose about 1/3 of the bone density in your hip.

In African Americans, there is only a 5% chance of developing osteoporosis.  There is about 35% that have low bone mass, but they have not been diagnosed with the disease.  An interesting fact is that many African Americans do not get enough vitamin D and that makes it difficult for the body absorb calcium.

Estrogen levels drop during menopause and that can lead to bone loss. If you have greater bone density before you reach menopause then the less likely you develop osteoporosis.  After menopause, a person can lose 20% of her bone density.  There is a type of medication that is estrogen to help with menopause and that can lower your chances of losing bone density, but it has serious side effects that make you not want to take the medication.

Breastfeeding and pregnancy could possibly lower a person's bone mass, but this is can just be temporary. It has been shown that the bones will recover over time. It is important to make sure that you get enough calcium and vitamin D while they are breastfeeding and while they are pregnant.

What YOU CAN DO NOW to try and prevent this disease from happening to you is:

Eating a well-balanced diet

get enough vitamin D and calcium

Exercise

No smoking or drinking

Reference

National Osteoporosis Foundation. 2016. National osteoporosis foundation.  Retrieved from                      https://www.nof.org/prevention/general-facts/what-women-need-to-know/

Introduction

Hey guys, my name is Gabby and my topic is bone health. I chose this topic because I enjoy learning about the bones. I feel like bone health is important, but it's usually not the first topic that comes to mind when you think of health. When I was always a little kid I heard that you should drink milk so you have strong bones when you get older, but now that I am older I never hear people talk about bone health.  I'm looking forward to finding information and sharing it with you all.