Causes of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a condition that affections thousands of people each year. It is a disease that affects the bone, making it less strong and more succeptible to fractures. Many become surprised when they discover that they have osteoporosis, and may wonder why they came down with the disease. There are a few reasons that someone comes gets osteoporosis, and a number of risk factors that show that you may be at risk for having osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis occurs when there is an imbalance between the formation of new bones and your body absorbing the old bones. If your body is not producing enough new bone, you will have osteoporosis. If your body is not absorbing the old bones fast enough, you will have osteoporosis. When we are young, our body uses calcium and phosphate in order to create new, strong bones. As you get older, your body may begin to stop absorbing calcium and phosphate the way it needs to.

Women tend to get osteoporosis more than men do because of menopause. When women go through menopause, their estrogen levels decrease significantly, which increases their risk for osteoporosis. This is one reason that women should take calcium supplements when they start going through menopause. Other people that are at risk for osteoporosis include people who have eating disorders, like anorexic or bulimia. These disorders don't allow for the proper amount of calcium and phosphate to enter the body with the diet, which means that the bones become brittle over time.

To discover if you are at risk for osteoporosis, ask your doctor if it makes sense for you to have a bone mineral density scan. A bone mineral density scan can discover how healthy your bones are and if you are at risk from having osteoporosis.

Stop Osteoporosis - Treatment For Thinning Bones

Osteoporosis is a major health threat for 44 million Americans every year. 1 out of 2 women and 1 out of 8 men will get osteoporosis. If you're a woman 50 or over listen up: ½ of all women in this age bracket don't even know they have low bone mass. Osteoporosis puts people at a higher risk for painful fractures and decreasing your ability to lead a functional life. Osteoporosis isn't picky either as it has lots of bones to choose from.

You have 206 bones in your body. So what do you think all these bones do? They aren't just holding you up. Your bones are living storing materials. Think of your bones like a savings account. Bones have a storage vault: 95% of your body's calcium is stored in your bones. You see, your body absolutely NEEDS calcium to survive. Calcium is even more important for nerve conduction, muscle contraction, and blood clotting. Calcium actually helps your heart contract because your heart is a muscle. So given a choice between making your heart beat or thinning your bones, your body will withdraw from your bone account leaving your savings weak, thin and frail. And that's how you get Osteoporosis. You survive, but may be bound to a wheel chair and/or suffer a debilitating fracture. Osteoporosis is the most common cause of hip fractures, a tragedy that I am called upon to treat regularly. Hip fractures are painful and can result in permanent loss of independence and even death. Preventative action should be taken now. Weight Bearing and resistance exercises play an important role in Osteoporosis prevention and treatment. The earlier you begin to build a deposit in your bone bank, the healthier you will be.

Your bones are very complex living cells. Bones are not hollow: unless you look inside the middle of a bird bone. But if you haven't noticed, we don't fly too well. There is blood formation within your bones. Red cells carry oxygen and white blood cells to defend us against disease.

44 million Americans have low bone mass resulting in debilitating hip fractures and painful wrist fractures. The best exercises to increase bone density are weight bearing and gravity resistant activities. In order to build bone mass you need to overload your muscles with weights. Weights are not only great for changing the architecture of your bones, they also are readily available and keep you more functional with your activities of daily living.

6 Tips for Healthy Bones:

1. Do strength training 3 days a week every other day.

2. Ask your Doctor about a bone density test.

3. Check with your Doctor about medications that slow bone loss.

4. Eat a well balanced diet that includes the recommended daily amount of calcium for your gender and age.

5. Calcium is more readily absorbed with vitamin D. Talk to your Doctor about the correct amount.

6. To decrease falls that could lead to fractures, practice balance exercises."

Canine Osteoporosis - How to Prevent Arthritis in Man's Best Friend

Are you concerned that your dog may have canine osteoporosis? In this article we are going to talk more about this condition as well as talking about preventing arthritis in man's best friend.

If you are an avid dog lover I am sure that you are worried about your pet when you see signs of canine osteoporosis. Your active little puppy grew up so quickly and now has gotten quite up there in age but since people do not age as quickly the time may have escaped you quite quickly. This is a really hard thing to acknowledge but the quicker you notice this is happening the better because you will be able to prevent it. Let's go on to talk more about canine osteoporosis and how to go about preventing arthritis in man's best friend.

When your pet starts to slow down its really important that you take notice. Do not just think that maybe your pet is tired when you see behavior that is unusual. Pets usually do not care if they are tired or not because they desire to please their master. If you find that you call your dog and he/she comes very slowly you may want to consider the chance that they have or are starting to develop canine osteoporosis.

If you do suspect that you pet is suffering from this condition there are a couple of things that you can do to make life easier and even keep things from getting worse. One of those things is making sure that your pet does get some exercise. You do not want to overdo it because that will make the condition worse but when you allow them to get some exercise you will be able to keep the joints moving better. I am sure that you have sat in a chair for a long time and then had a hard time moving when you get up. It's no different with your dog.

When your best friend has canine osteoporosis you may also want to consider over the counter medications but make sure you talk to your vet first because they know what is best for your pet. Most likely they will recommend giving your dog a supplement that is going to help them keep from getting worse. This could keep your pet much more active than he or she was going to be and allow you to enjoy more time with them.

Osteoporosis - Natural Remedies For Osteoporosis

There are more than 25 million Americans who have Osteoporosis-which puts this nutritional deficiency at an epidemic level.

Most people believe Osteoporosis is a disease that is dependent solely on estrogen and calcium. Studies are now showing Osteoporosis can be slowed, (not stopped), through the use of calcium supplements and hormone therapy in menopausal women. Since it is now fairly common knowledge that hormone replacement could increase the risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and heart attacks, we should look at all options for prevention and treatment of Osteoporosis.

There are several drugs out now such as Fosomax, Boniva and Actonal that increase bone density. Though as with all drugs they have significant side affects.

So what other choices do we have if the first two aren't risks we want to take?

People can protect themselves without the use of drugs and take a look at protecting against bone loss naturally.

According to Dr. Ray Strand we need to look at bone as active, living tissue that is continually remodeling itself by "bone forming" and "absorption of bone " activities. This means our bones are always involved in biochemical reactions that rely on different micronutrients and enzyme systems. So like any tissue, it has nutritional needs. Since the American diet is deficient in essential nutrients that our bones need to stay healthy-it would make sense that inadequate intake of these nutrients could lead to Osteoporosis.

Since nutrients work in synergy with each other it is imperative that calcium is not the only nutrient present.

Again, according to Dr. Ray Strand, in order for us to reduce fractures we must pay attention to these 3 factors.

-Preserving adequate bone mass

-Preventing the loss of the protein matrix

-Making sure the bone has ALL the right nutrients to repair and replace damaged areas of bone

The specific nutrients needed for bone health are:

-Calcium

-Magnesium

-Vitamin K

-Vitamin D

-Maganese

-Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12

-Boron

-Zinc

If you have normal bone density it is wise to supplement your diet with the above nutrients so your bones remain healthy. Also, begin weight bearing exercises 3-4 times a week as it stimulates bone growth.

If you have significant Osteoporosis, consider adding bone density drugs and follow the regime above.

The bottom line is Osteoporosis is clearly evident in both men and women and not solely a calcium and estrogen problem. If you supply your bones the proper nutrients and do weight bearing exercises, there is a much better chance of building bone and avoiding Osteoporosis.

Sue Ferenc has counseled numerous individuals to have the proper nutritional balance in their body to gain improvement in their health and reduce the risk of disease. To get her exclusive report on how to prevent and treat Osteoporosis naturally go to http://www.MyNaturalEnergySecrets.com right now and claim your free report.

Green Tea Can Help Prevent Fractures in Women With Osteoporosis

There are things you can do to prevent fractures especially if you have osteoporosis. Exercises, drinking green tea, changing your lifestyle and bad habits can all contribute to healthy and strong bones. Normally, women with osteoporosis are prone to verterbal, hip, and wrist fractures and this is because of the result of weak bones. With medications, proper exercise, and complete nutritional support, the risk of fractures is less.

To protect yourself from getting a fracture from a fall, you need lots of weight-bearing exercises. Yoga and other resistance training fitness program help build strong bones. Another benefit of these exercises does not stop with building stronger bones but it also improves your balance and increases muscle mass as well as muscle strength.

Strength is what you need to be able to get up from the floor or climb stairs. Balance is what you need to be able to prevent falls. Tai chi is a slow, graceful movement that works with coordination and balance. Another important thing is to check is your medications. More often than not, certain medications causes some problems with coordination and balance.

Also, limit your alcohol intake when taking medications. Consider getting your eyes examined.

Reducing your stress is one great factor in osteoporosis. Why? It is because stress can deplete your body of necessary nutrients for your bones such as calcium. Under stress, your body undergoes a fight or flight mechanism. It is basically an involuntary response of your body when it is in danger so you'll be ready either to take action or run away.

High levels of hormone cortisol which is present during a stressful event or situation suppress your immune system. This causes calcium to be released from your bones into your bloodstream. This, in turn, suppresses your hormones and glands involved in the remodeling of your bones.

As we age, your calcium loss often exceeds your calcium gain to your bones and that is why dietary calcium may slow the process of bone loss. Green tea contains chromium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, sodium, phosphorous, strontium, cobalt, nickel, and potassium.

The low rates of breast cancer and osteoporosis in Japanese women suggested that green tea should be in every woman's teacup.

Fragile Bones (Osteoporosis) Risk Factors

Fragile bones (osteoporosis) affect about 75 million people in Europe, USA and Japan. It considered a silent disease, due to gradual and painless loss of bone density. Early detection of risk factors is very logic for everyone. I'll provide you these risk factors in this article.

• Age: During aging process, bone resorption increase whereas, bone formation decrease. Both male and female loss about 0.5% of bone mass every year after age 50.

• Gender: 1 in 3 women over 50 will experience osteoporotic fractures, as will 1 in 5 men. Postmenopausal females are highly susceptible due to anabolic effect of Estrogen, the longer a women are exposed to estrogen hormone, the lower their risk of osteoporosis. Corticosteroids treatment: rheumatoid arthritis long term treatment with prednisone or its derivatives led to high risk of osteoporosis.

• Family history: Individuals with family member has osteoporosis has a 50-85% increased risk of developing osteoporosis.

• Race: Caucasians and Southeast Asians are of high risk more than African American and Latino men.

• Body mass: Thin or lean people particularly females are of high risk.

• Low Calcium intake: Calcium is the main component in bone structure so its deficiency led to high risk.

• Low Vitamin, D intake: Vitamin, D is very essential for Calcium, absorption and metabolism.

• Physical activity: Less active people and low life style people are of high risk.

• Smoking, Alcohol and Excessive Soda consumption. All these factors interfere with Calcium absorption and metabolism.

• Certain medications as Diuretics, Estrogen suppressive, blood-thinning agents, and Anti-cholesterol, agents: All, interfere with Calcium level, absorption and metabolism.

All people at risk should visit Physician and detect the Bone Mineral Density (BMD); witch diagnosed by a DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) test that, measures the bone mineral content of the spine, hip, and other parts of the skeleton. In simple terms, an X-ray is beamed to a specific area of the body and results in a computerized calculation based on the amount of light filtering through the tissue. Known as the Bone Mineral

Density (BMD), the test results are numbers representing the Standard Deviation (SD).

The T-scores are then used for diagnosis as follows:

• The normal: T-score above -1.

• Osteopenia: T- score between (-1 and -2.5).

• Osteoporosis: T-score at or below -2.5.

Celiac Disease Can Cause Back Pain

Celiac disease affects about 1 in 133 Americans, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. The digestive and autoimmune disease is thought to be caused by genetic factors and has a wide range of symptoms.

The immune systems of people with Celiac disease respond to the ingestion of gluten protein by attacking the lining of the small intestine. This causes inflammation that damages villa, the small hairs in the intestine that absorb nutrients into the body. Because it affects nutrient absorption, Celiac has many symptoms beyond the digestive tract.

Nutrients include vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The body uses all of these in various vital functions, including cell production, muscle activation, growth of bones and muscles and organ function. Since nutrients are the basic building blocks of our bodies, malnutrition can wreak havoc on a number of structures.

Symptoms of Celiac include:

Digestive problems, such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, fatty stools and constipation

Muscle, joint and bone pain

In children, failure to grow properly

Iron-deficiency anemia

Missed periods

Tingling in the legs

Seizures

Celiac Disease And Back Pain

If you experience chronic digestive symptoms and back pain, you should be tested for Celiac disease. Continuing to eat gluten can lead to permanent intestinal damage.

Nutrient deficiency affects muscles throughout the body. The lower back will likely be a site of pain, since the lower back muscles are both load-bearing and highly mobile. Electrolytes like potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium are needed for proper muscle functioning. A lack of these electrolytes causes interference in nerve communication between the brain and muscles. Contraction and relaxation cycles become disrupted. The muscles may twitch, spasm and cramp up. As the muscles get used less due to pain and miscommunication, muscle tone is lost. This process is accelerated by the fact that protein, the building blocks of muscles, is not being absorbed properly. This means that muscle wasting can't be counteracted by muscle repair.

Celiac disease can also cause osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Both disorders involve weakness of bones, but they are different in a few ways. Osteoporosis is a generally non-reversible thinning of bones caused by the body's inability to manufacture more bone tissue. Calcium and phosphate deficiencies greatly increase risk of osteoporosis. Osteomalacia is a softening of the bones caused by vitamin D deficiency and, unlike osteoporosis, can be recovered from through vitamin D supplementation. Both disorders can cause bone fracture and pain, but osteomalacia also has neuromuscular pain symptoms. Osteoporosis can cause loss of height and postural dysfunction, which can exacerbate back pain.

Treating Celiac Disease

The first step to Celiac treatment is the permanent elimination of gluten from your diet. As long as gluten is present in your digestive tract, your body will continue to damage itself. See http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gluten-free-diet/my01140/ for foods you can and can't eat.

Celiac is usually detected before intestinal damage is beyond repair. You may begin to feel better a few days into your gluten-free diet, but it can take 6 months or more for your intestines to heal. It is generally considered a good idea for people recovering from Celiac damage to supplement nutrients in order to reverse the effects of malnutrition. Supplementation should be done under the guidance of a nutritionist or physician to ensure you're getting the proper amounts of nutrients your body needs.

Back pain is one of the many possible symptoms of Celiac disease. If you suspect you have this condition, seek diagnosis and treatment early on.