If you have any of the following diseases or conditions, talk to your doctor or health care provider about what you can do to keep your bones healthy. Note: This list may not include all of the diseases and conditions that may cause bone loss. Talk to your doctor and ask if any of the conditions you have may be causing bone loss. Some medicines can be harmful to your bones, even if you need to take them for another condition.
Bone loss is usually greater if you take the medication in high doses or for a long time. If you need to take a medicine that causes bone loss, work with your healthcare provider to determine the lowest possible dose you can take to control your symptoms. While steroid medicines can be lifesaving treatments for some conditions, they can also cause bone loss and osteoporosis. These medicines are often referred to as steroids, glucocorticoids or corticosteroids. They should not be confused with anabolic steroids, which are male hormones that some athletes use to build muscle.
Steroids are much like certain hormones made by your own body. They are often prescribed to relieve inflammation. They are also used along with other medicines to treat cancer and autoimmune conditions and to support organ transplants. Taking steroid medicines as pills in a dose of 5 mg or more for three or more months can increase the chance of bone loss and developing osteoporosis. Talk with your healthcare provider about taking the lowest dose for the shortest period of time for your condition.
If you need to take steroid medicines for longer than this, you should take steps to prevent bone loss. While taking steroids, it is especially important to get enough calcium and vitamin D. You may also want to ask your healthcare provider if you need a bone density test.
If you have a vertebral crush fracture you'll also have a greater risk of fracturing your hips or wrists. Steroids especially if taken by mouth — Steroids corticosteroids are used to treat a number of inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis.
They can affect the production of bone by reducing the amount of calcium absorbed from the gut and increasing calcium loss through the kidneys. If you're likely to need steroids, such as prednisolone, for more than 3 months your doctor will probably suggest calcium and vitamin D tablets, and sometimes other medications, to help prevent osteoporosis.
Read more about steroid tablets. Lack of oestrogen in the body — If you have an early menopause before the age of 45 or a hysterectomy where one or both ovaries are removed, this increases your risk of developing osteoporosis. This is because they cause your body's oestrogen production to reduce dramatically, so the process of bone loss will speed up. Removal of the ovaries only ovariectomy or oophorectomy is quite rare but is also linked with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Lack of weight-bearing exercise — Exercise encourages bone development, and lack of exercise means you'll be more at risk of losing calcium from the bones and so developing osteoporosis.
Muscle and bone health are linked so it's also important to keep up your muscle strength, which will also reduce your risk of falling. However, women who exercise so much that their periods stop are also at a higher risk because their oestrogen levels will be reduced.
Heavy smoking — Tobacco is directly toxic to bones. In women it lowers the oestrogen level and may cause early menopause. In men, smoking lowers testosterone activity and this can also weaken the bones. It also increases the risk of breaking a bone as a result of a fall. Family history — Osteoporosis does run in families, probably because there are inherited factors that affect bone development. If a close relative has suffered a fracture linked to osteoporosis then your own risk of a fracture is likely to be greater than normal.
Any exercise where the bones are made to carry the weight of the body, such as walking, can speed up the process of new bone growing. The more weight-bearing exercise you do from a young age, the more this will reduce the risk of getting osteoporosis.
If you do have osteoporosis, doing weight-bearing exercise will minimise bone loss and strengthen muscles. However, all forms of exercise will help to improve co-ordination and keep up muscle strength. This is important because muscles can also become weaker as we get older, and this is a risk factor for falling and therefore for fractures. T'ai Chi can be very effective in reducing the risk of falls. It also improves balance. Walking is a good exercise to improve bone strength and it is also good for keeping thigh and hip muscles strong, which is important to help people have good balance and prevent falls.
High-impact exercise such as skipping, aerobics, weight-training, running, jogging and tennis are thought to be useful for the prevention of osteoporosis. These exercises might not all be suitable if you have osteoporosis. For more support, motivation and advice talk to your doctor, a physiotherapist or a personal trainer at a gym about your condition and the best exercise for you.
The best sources of calcium are:. If you don't eat many dairy products or calcium-enriched substitutes, then you may need a calcium supplement. We recommend you discuss this with your doctor or a dietitian. Vitamin D is needed for the body to absorb and process calcium and there's some evidence that arthritis progresses more quickly in people who don't have enough vitamin D. Vitamin D is sometimes called the 'sunshine vitamin' because it's produced by the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
A slight lack deficiency of vitamin D is quite common in the UK in winter. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence NICE has issued guidance on safe sunlight exposure which aims to balance the benefits of vitamin D against the risks of skin cancer from too much exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D can also be obtained from some foods, especially from oily fish, or from supplements such as fish liver oil.
However, it's important not to take too much fish liver oil. Because we don't get enough sunshine all year round in the UK, and because it's difficult to guarantee getting enough vitamin D from what we eat, Public Health England recommends that everyone should take a 10 microgram supplement of vitamin D every day during the autumn and winter.
People in certain groups at risk of not having enough exposure to sunlight, or whose skin is not able to absorb enough vitamin D from the level of sunshine in the UK, are encouraged to take a daily supplement of 10 micrograms all year round.
The hip is one of the bones most likely to be affected and unfortunately, hip fractures or breaks can make it hard to walk. They can also take a long time to heal, even preventing someone from being able to continue living independently at home.
Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content. What is osteoporosis? Find out what you need to know about osteoporosis and bone strength. Learn the difference between osteoporosis and osteopenia. Read more on Jean Hailes for Women's Health website. Osteoporosis What is osteoporosis? What are the symptoms? What are the causes? What can I do? What treatments are there? Read more on Healthy Male - Andrology Australia website. Medical Osteoporosis Osteoporosis What is it?
Read more on Dietitians Australia website. Garvan's guide to understanding osteoporosis: download our free guide to learn more about what you can do to prevent and manage osteoporosis. Read more on Garvan Institute of Medical Research website.
Over 1. It is a condition where the bones lose strength and become thin and fragile Read more on Hormones Australia website. To assess your bone density and risk of developing osteoporosis, your doctor may ask you questions linked to the causes of osteoporosis.
Learn about Osteoporosis as a muscularskeletal pain condition to identify how you can approach Osteoporosis in your co-management treatment plan.
Regular weight-bearing exercise and strength resistance training can help improve your bone density and decrease your risk of osteoporosis. Read more on myDr website. Bone health is an important part of general health. Bones are flexible yet strong for movement and protect vital organs.
When the structure of bone is compromised and becomes weaker and less dense the bone has an increased risk of breaking. This is osteoporosis. Read more on Healthy Bones Australia website. This decreased density means the bones are weaker, thinner and more fragile, which makes them more susceptible to breakage.
Read more on Ausmed Education website. Osteoporosis is a condition characterised by weakened bones that fracture easily. After menopause many women are at risk of developing osteoporosis. The female sex hormone oestrogen plays an important role in maintaining bone strength.
After menopause oestrogen levels drop and this may result in increased bone loss.
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