What is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis literally means ‘porous bones’. Our bones are made up of a thick outer shell and a strong inner honeycomb mesh of tiny struts of bone.
Osteoporosis means some of these struts become thin or prone to damage. This makes the bone more fragile and prone to break. It often remains undetected until the time of this first broken bone.
Broken wrists, hips and spinal bones are the most common fractures in people with osteoporosis.
What causes osteoporosis?
From our 40s onwards our bones gradually lose their density as a natural part of ageing. One in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 in the UK will break a bone, mainly because of osteoporosis.
Who is at risk?
Our bone health is largely down to the genes we inherit from our parents.
Other factors that can put people at greater risk include: medical conditions which leave people immobile for a long time; those taking corticosteroid tablets for conditions such as asthma or arthritis and women who have had an early menopause or hysterectomy. People who are wheelchair users and therefore non-weight bearing are at particular risk.
Can I prevent osteoporosis?About 80 percent of our bone health lies deep within our bodies in our genes but you can take steps to influence the 20 percent of bone health left in your hands. It doesn’t sound much but can make a big difference. Everyone should try to protect themselves against osteoporosis.
Get physical
Exercise is the best way to help your bones because your skeleton grows stronger if you do weight-bearing exercise.
Even something as simple as lifting a tin of beans in front of the TV will strengthen your wrist bones, a common site for broken bones through osteoporosis.
Get into a routine. 10 lifts with one hand and then 10 with the other. Rest and repeat. You can gradually build up the number of repeats. This will help with the strength you need to transfer from your wheelchair.
Healthy eating
It is important we eat plenty of calcium but lots of other vitamins and minerals are also important. Drink milk. Skimmed milk still contains as much calcium as full fat milk, but with fewer calories. Soya milk drinkers will need extra vitamins.
Eat a healthy, balanced diet and try to avoid drinking too much caffeine which can affect the balance of calcium in the body.
Quit smoking
Smoking has a toxic effect on bone by inhibiting the construction cells from doing their work… another good reason to give up. Ask your GP or pharmacist for help if you can’t go it alone.
Drink moderately
Enjoying the odd glass of wine could actually help your bones but drinking too much alcohol is damaging to the skeleton.
For more information about osteoporosis and what you can do to help yourself visit the National Osteoporosis Society at:
www.nos.org.uk
National Osteoporosis Society, Camerton, Bath, BA2 0PJ or telephone 0845 130 3076 (Mon - Thurs 9am to 4.30pm, Fri 9am - 4pm)
Eleni Burgess talks about her experiences of osteoporosis
“I knew about osteoporosis but never realised that it would affect my life as a teenager in the way it did. I hadn’t been warned that being unable to stand up would make me vulnerable to it and most literature talks about osteoporosis being a problem for the older person.
In the last week of term in summer 2006 I had almost completed the final assignment for my BTEC National Diploma in Sports Science. It was two days before the National Junior Athletics Championships in Blackpool and I was confident that I could break all five records for T52 wheelchair races.
I was sitting in my wheelchair in a car park and as I turned my chair on uneven ground I slid slowly out of the chair on to the tarmac. I have no feeling in my legs so decided I should go to A&E as something in my leg was clicking and I wondered if I had dislocated my hip. After a three hour wait (I was in no pain so was not a priority even though I explained I was paralysed) the X-ray was done and showed my femur was shattered into several pieces.
The orthopaedic surgeon said it looked like I had been in a serious car accident and would need a metal Liss plate and many pins. I was in hospital for seven weeks. I could not transfer into my chair without a hoist for a further eight months while the bone healed.
All my fitness and independence was lost and I was told I may never be able to race again as there was no guarantee the bone would heal.
When I got home I used the internet to find the best foods for bone healing and sat out in the sun at every opportunity to get the vital vitamin D.
The osteoporosis consultant arranged for Dexa scans of my hip and spine and later my wrist and these confirmed osteoporosis in my spine and hip. He thought the lack of osteoporosis in my upper body might have been due to the sport I do.
I now ensure that I drink milk daily, get outdoors as often as possible and plan my diet to include a wide range of nuts, seeds and vegetables.
The bone has healed and I am now able to race again, but I wish I had known I was vulnerable to easily broken bones before the accident happened.