Osteoporosis is a "silent"
disease caused by a loss of bone mass that happens without your
knowing it. The first Osteoporosis Symptom is a fracture, a break
in the bone, which may cause serious health risks. Many women and
men go through life without knowing they have severe bone loss until
they break their hip, spine, or wrist and experience the consequences
of an otherwise "silent" disease.
In the early stages of
bone loss, you usually have no pain or Osteoporosis Symptoms. But
once bones have been weakened by osteoporosis, you may have signs
and symptoms that include:
- Back pain,
which can be severe if you have a fractured or collapsed vertebra
- Loss of height
over time, with an accompanying stooped posture
- Fracture of
the vertebrae, wrists, hips or other bones
Osteoporosis Symptoms
can occur in anybody, but certain factors add together to increase
the risk of a person developing osteoporosis.
If you fall into
one or more of these groups you may be at greater risk of osteoporosis:
- Female sex.
- Older age group.
- Menopause before the
age of 45.
As for calcium, dairy
products are one, but by no means the only, source; almonds, broccoli,
cooked kale, canned salmon with the bones, oats and soy products
such as tofu are also rich in calcium. If you find it hard to get
enough calcium from your diet, consider calcium supplements. Supplements
are inexpensive and generally are well tolerated and well absorbed
if taken properly for Osteoporosis Symptoms. The thinning of the
bones does not, in itself, cause much in the way of symptoms. It
does, however, lead to a risk of broken bones without much of an
injury. In fact the bones of the spine can sometimes collapse without
any obvious cause.
When the bones are significantly
thinned (low in bone mass) people who fall are more likely to break
their wrist, hip, or other bones. A cough or a sneeze is more likely
to cause a fracture of a rib or the partial collapse of one of the
bones of the spine (vertebra). Any bone is more at risk with osteoporosis.
Bone is constantly being
replaced. Old bone is reabsorbed and new bone laid down all the
time. This results in about 10% of the bone in your body being replaced
every year.
When more bone is reabsorbed
than is laid down, the results are thinning of the bones (loss of
bone mass). The substance of the bones (bone mass) builds up to
a peak at about 30 years of age. After that we lose bone mass by
about 1% each year.
