Osteoporosis Risk Factors

OSTEOPOROSIS

Most scientists agree that these factors affect the risk of osteoporosis. Some may apply in your case, but others do not.

The risk of osteoporosis increases with age. Osteoporosis can develop at any age but is much more common in people as they age.

Women have a higher risk of osteoporosis than men, but both men and women can lose bone mass and fracture.

A person who has a father who developed osteoporosis are at greater risk for bone loss.

People of all races and ethnicities can develop osteoporosis. However, African Americans tend to have less risk than other groups.

Some medications such as steroids or anticonvulsants are an important part of treatment of certain diseases, but also cause bone loss. People who need this medication should take steps to protect your bones.
Most risk factors for osteoporosis can be modified to reduce risk, either through changes in lifestyle and medication, if necessary. These include :

Exercise is one of the best ways to protect against osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercises that work against gravity (such as walking, stair climbing and weight training) help keep bones strong. Exercise also helps to prevent diseases like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity and colon cancer. Try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Postmenopausal hormones may contain different hormones that are similar to the female reproductive hormones, estrogen and progesterone. After menopause, a woman's body stops producing large amounts of these hormones. For women who are going through (or have already gone through), post-menopausal hormones help reduce symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness, and also protect against osteoporosis and colon cancer. The hormone estrogen is particularly important in the prevention of osteoporosis, because it can reduce bone loss and increase bone density. However, post-menopausal hormones may represent a high risk, such as increasing the risk of breast cancer (or breast) and uterine cancer. And although it was thought at one point that postmenopausal hormone helped reduce the risk of heart disease, it is now unclear how they affect the risk of these diseases.

Smokers have increased risk of osteoporosis than non-smokers. Smoking may work in different ways to increase the loss of bone mass. For example, smoking can change the body's hormone levels and may interfere with calcium absorption.
Snuff exposure also increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease (narrowing of blood vessels in the legs), emphysema, bronchitis, diabetes, and cancers of the lung, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, lip, mouth, tongue, larynx, throat and esophagus. For many people, quitting smoking is the best they can do to improve your health.

The risk of osteoporosis is higher in thin people with small bones and less weight people. Heavier people have a lower risk for several reasons. The extra fat that people have increased production of estrogen (which protects against rapid bone loss), increase the weight that the bones have to support (which helps make them stronger) and can lessen the impact of the blows in case of a fall (which protects bones from fractures).
While the extra weight protects against osteoporosis, may also adversely affect the whole body, increasing the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke. Maintain a healthy weight has been proven to decrease the risk of colon cancer, kidney, breast and uterine cancer. When all this is considered the best option to protect your bones is not through the weight gain but through other methods such as exercise and healthy diet.

Diet can play an important role in bone health. To reduce the risk of osteoporosis, it is especially important to get enough calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K. Good sources of calcium include dairy products, nuts, whole grains, green leafy vegetables and calcium supplements. Good sources of vitamin D include eggs, fish "fat" dairy products and fortified breakfast cereals, as well as direct exposure to sunlight, which helps create vitamin D through the skin. Good sources of vitamin K are green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, cabbage or lettuce.
Too much vitamin A as retinol, can Increase the Risk of Osteoporosis. Try to keep the retinol intake Between 2500 IU and 5000 IU daily. The best way to do this is to make sure you do not consume foods fortified with too many vitamin A. And When choosing a multivitamin, choose one you no more Than That 5000 IU of vitamin A and have at least 20% of vitamin A