what factors cause osteoporosis

Causes

These risk factors include:

• Being female. Osteoporosis mostly affects women.
• Age. Risk increases as people age.
• Body frame. Smaller, thinner people have less bone mass to begin with.
• Ethnicity. People who are Caucasian or of Asian descent have the greatest risk.
• Family history of the condition. People whose parents have osteoporosis are at a higher risk of developing the disease.

Symptoms

What Foods Are Good to Eat for Osteoporosis?

1. Dark, Leafy Greens. Dark leafy greens are a rich source of calcium. ...
2. Salmon. Salmon is an osteoporosis powerhouse. ...
3. Almond Butter. If you are a peanut butter eater, consider making the switch. ...
4. Plant-Based Milks. I said that we wouldn’t include dairy, but this begs to be added. ...
5. Eggs. Egg yolks are rich in vitamin D. ...
6. Beans. ...

Prevention

The main cause of osteoporosis is bone loss due to a drop in your body's estrogen levels. Estrogen is a hormone that helps build and maintain your bones. The most common cause of estrogen loss in women is menopause . Women are more likely to develop osteoporosis.

Complications

best and safest treatment for osteoporosis 2: Bask in the sun Usually, you can get more exposure to the sun to help promote the absorption of the substance. The sun can effectively promote the body to synthesize trace vitamins and supplement the nutrients lost in the body, so that the body can absorb more of the substance.

What are the risk factors for developing osteoporosis?

What foods should you eat for osteoporosis?

What is the main cause of osteoporosis?

What is the best and safest treatment for osteoporosis?

What are 5 risk factors for osteoporosis?

Risk FactorsWhite and Asian women, aged 50 and over. ... Men with low testosterone levels. ... Smokers and heavy drinkers (more than two drinks a day on most days).Anyone who weighs less than 125 pounds. ... People who have undergone bariatric surgery.Anyone with a parent who suffered a hip fracture as a senior.More items...

What are the major causes of osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is more likely to occur in people who have:Low calcium intake. A lifelong lack of calcium plays a role in the development of osteoporosis. ... Eating disorders. Severely restricting food intake and being underweight weakens bone in both men and women.Gastrointestinal surgery.

Who gets osteoporosis the most?

Osteoporosis is more common in women. It affects almost 20% (1 in 5) of women aged 50 and over and almost 5% (1 in 20) of men aged 50 and over. Many people with osteoporosis do not know they have it until they break a bone.

What are 5 symptoms of osteoporosis?

Kuchynski says, include:Fragility-related fractures. These occur when even mild impact causes a fracture of the wrist, back, hip or other bones.Height loss. More than two inches in height can be lost over time.Receding gums. ... A curved, stooped shape to the spine. ... Lower back pain.

What are the early warning signs of osteoporosis?

7 Early Warning Signs of OsteoporosisLow bone density. Low bone density is a condition where your bone density is lower than average but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis. ... Fracture. ... Poor posture. ... Family history. ... Gums that are receding. ... Brittle and weak fingernails. ... Problems holding objects in your hands.

What foods destroy bone density?

What foods destroy bone density?Excess salt.Hydrogenated oil.Alcohol.Food rich in vitamin A.Soft drinks.

What food is highest in calcium?

These eight foods are some of the best sources of calcium available:Dairy products. Products like milk, yogurt, and cheese are rich in calcium and also tend to be the best absorbed sources of it. ... Soybeans. ... Dark Green, Leafy Vegetables. ... Calcium-Fortified Foods. ... Canned Salmon. ... Figs. ... Flour Tortillas. ... Canned Baked Beans.

How much calcium do u need everyday?

The average adult needs 1,000 mg of calcium per day. The amount increases to 1,200 mg per day for women over the age of 50 and men over the age of 71. "It's best for your calcium intake to come from your diet, which is very achievable since it's a mineral found in many foods," says Dr. Brown.

Which body type is at greater risk for osteoporosis?

Body size. Slender, thin-boned women and men are at greater risk to develop osteoporosis.

What are the symptoms of osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a “silent” disease because you may not have symptoms. You may not even know you have the disease until you break a bone. Breaks can occur in any bone but happen most often in: 1 Hip bones. 2 Vertebrae in the spine. 3 Wrist.

What is the disease that causes bones to become weak and brittle?

What is osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become weak and brittle. This increases your risk of broken bones (fractures). Osteoporosis is a “silent” disease because you may not have symptoms. You may not even know you have the disease until you break a bone.

How to treat osteoporosis in older adults?

During childhood and adulthood, exercises such as walking, dancing, or weight lifting can make bones stronger. For older adults, regular exercise can help: Keep muscles strong and improve coordination and balance.

What does a bone density test measure?

This test measures how much calcium and other minerals are in a specific area of your bone, usually your spine and hip.

What are the factors that affect your health?

Your diet, exercise, alcohol use, and smoking history.

When does osteoporosis start?

Osteoporosis can occur at any age, although you are at greater risk as you get older. For many women, the disease begins to develop a year or two before menopause.

What conditions can cause secondary osteoporosis?

Conditions that can cause secondary osteoporosis include: Anorexia nervosa. Bulimia.

Why do women have higher rates of osteoporosis?

Women’s higher rates of osteoporosis are partly due to their smaller frames – thinner bones are more quickly affected by bone loss – and by the drop in estrogen and other hormones that protect bones after menopause . Approximately 5 percent of women go through early menopause. Early menopause (between ages 40 and 45) tends to run in families.

What causes brittle bones?

Kelly Crumrin. Osteoporosis causes the loss of bone mineral density (BMD) that results in weak, brittle bones and can lead to painful and debilitating fractures. In most people, a combination of inherited genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to the development of osteoporosis (primary osteoporosis).

What percentage of bone mineral density is inherited?

Scientists estimate that inherited genetic makeup may determine as much as 75 percent of peak BMD. BMD peaks around age 30, and a higher peak BMD is protective against osteoporosis. Those with a family history of osteoporosis – especially those with a parent who have broken a hip – are encouraged to seek early screening for osteoporosis.

How to prevent osteoporosis?

Can osteoporosis be prevented?#N#There are important steps that can help younger people prevent the development of osteoporosis, and older people slow the loss of bone density. Get more exercise – especially weight-bearing exercise – to help build stronger, thicker bones. Add foods rich in vitamin D and calcium to your diet. Skin makes vitamin D when sunlight hits it – spend a few minutes in the sunshine each day. Ask your doctor to test your levels of calcium and vitamin D to determine whether you may benefit from supplements. If you smoke, stop smoking. Moderate your alcohol and caffeine intake. These changes may or may not help prevent osteoporosis, but they are likely to improve your overall health.

What age is the most likely to develop osteoporosis?

Read more about types of osteoporosis. Age is the biggest risk factor for osteoporosis in all people. Risk begins to rise after age 50. For women, lower levels of hormones after menopause add to the risk for developing osteoporosis.

What drugs cause osteoporosis?

Drugs known to cause osteoporosis in some people include: Anti-seizure drugs including Tegretol (Carbamazepine) and Dilantin (Phenytoin) Breast cancer drugs such as Arimidex (Anastrozole), Femara (Letrozole), and Aromasin (Exemestane) Corticosteroids such as Prednisone, Dexamethasone, or Methylprednisolone.

What are the risk factors for osteoporosis?

Low levels of testosterone, too much alcohol, taking certain drugs, and smoking are other risk factors. Older men who break a bone easily or are at risk for osteoporosis should talk with their doctors about testing and treatment.

Which group of women is most likely to have osteoporosis?

White and Asian women are most likely to have osteoporosis. Other women at great risk include those who: Have a family history of broken bones or osteoporosis. Have broken a bone after age 50. Had surgery to remove their ovaries before their periods stopped. Had early menopause.

What is a bone mineral density test?

A bone mineral density test compares your bone density to the bones of an average healthy young adult. The test result, known as a T-score, tells you how strong your bones are, whether you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, and your risk for having a fracture.

Why is osteoporosis considered a silent disease?

Osteoporosis is called a “silent disease” because you may not notice any changes until a bone breaks. All the while, though, your bones had been losing strength for many years. Bone is living tissue. To keep bones strong, your body breaks down old bone and replaces it with new bone tissue.

How old do you have to be to have a bone density test?

You can have a bone density test to find out how strong your bones are. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women aged 65 and older be screened (tested) for osteoporosis, as well as women under age 65 who are at increased risk for an osteoporosis-related fracture.

What happens to the bones in your 40s?

As people enter their 40s and 50s, more bone may be broken down than is replaced. A close look at the inside of bone shows something like a honeycomb. When you have osteoporosis, the spaces in this honeycomb grow larger, and the bone that forms the honeycomb gets smaller. The outer shell of your bones also gets thinner.

How to contact the National Osteoporosis Foundation?

301-565-2966 (TTY ) [email protected]. www.niams.nih.gov. National Osteoporosis Foundation. 800-231-4222 (toll-free) [email protected]. www.nof.org. This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date.

What is the most common cause of osteoporosis?

What’s the most common cause of osteoporosis? "In general, it's estrogen deficiency in women," says Paul Mystkowski, MD, an endocrinologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle and clinical faculty member of the University of Washington in Seattle. Bone loss accelerates after menopause, when older women have a quick drop in estrogen. Over time, the risk of osteoporosis and fracture increases as older women lose more bone than they replace.

Why do men have osteoporosis?

Men need both testosterone and estrogen for bone health. That's because men convert testosterone into bone-preserving estrogen. "There's a clear consensus that when you're evaluating men with osteoporosis," says Mystkowski, "you always evaluate for testosterone deficiency.".

How often do bones change?

Bones continually change throughout your life, with some bone cells dissolving and new bone cells growing back in a process called remodeling. With this lifelong turnover of bone cells, you replace most of your skeleton every 10 years. But for people with osteoporosis -- a thinning of the bones -- bone loss outpaces the growth of new bone.

What happens to bone mass as you age?

Bone density is greatest in your early 20s. But as you age, you can lose bone mass from a variety of factors. Osteoporosis or its early warning sign, osteopenia, signals an imbalance in the remodeling process: Too much bone is broken down, and too little new bone is built back up. Brittle bones result, prone to fracture.

Why do people lose their bones?

For people who are sedentary or have a condition like paralysis or muscular dystrophy, bone loss happens quickly. As a cause of osteoporosis, this one's in your hands. You can help "remodel" your bones with weight-bearing exercise, where you're putting gentle stress on bones. Causes of Osteoporosis: Thyroid Conditions.

Why do bones get brittle?

Brittle bones result, prone to fracture. You probably know that you need calcium to build strong bones, but a low- calcium diet isn't the only culprit. There are lesser-known causes of osteoporosis. The experts now believe that a combination of causes is often to blame for bone loss.

How many people have osteoporosis?

But look at a hip with osteoporosis, and you see mostly air. The bony matrix has all but dissolved, with only a few thin strands left. As many as 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and 34 million more have low bone mass, called osteopenia, says the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

What are the factors that contribute to osteoporosis?

The forces contributing to or directly causing osteoporosis are divided into five categories: Dietary causes and nutrient inadequacies. Lifestyle factors. Medicines that cause osteoporosis. Medical procedures the cause osteoporosis. Diseases that cause osteoporosis.

Why do women have osteoporosis?

It’s often suggested that the major causes of osteoporosis in women are low calcium intake and lower estrogen levels at menopause. A cross-cultural perspective, however, shows that this is not always true. People in many countries have lower calcium intakes than in the US, yet osteoporosis is less prevalent in these cultures.

Why is it important to build up new bone and break down old bone?

Both building up new bone and breaking down old bone are essential, as bone needs to repair itself and “remodel” itself on a daily basis. Excessive bone weakening and osteoporosis occur when, over time, the forces of bone breakdown are much greater than the forces of bone buildup. It’s all a question of balance….

Which hormone is most important for osteoporosis?

Progesterone. Estrogen tends to be the primary focus when discussing hormone levels and osteoporosis. But progesterone has a part to play too. Progesterone is a female sex hormone women’s bodies produce after ovulation during the second half of the menstrual cycle.

What is the title of the journal that discusses osteoporosis and fractures in liver disease?

Nakchbandi I. A. (2014). Osteoporosis and fractures in liver disease: relevance, pathogenesis and therapeutic implications. World journal of gastroenterology, 20 (28), 9427–9438. doi:10.3748/wjg.v20.i28.9427

What is the process of bone remodeling?

And that includes your natural bone remodeling – the process where old bone is broken down and removed, and replaced with new bone. See, it’s all about balance when it comes to hormones.

Does osteoporosis rear its ugly head?

It sounds easy, right? Provide your bones with the nutrients they need to stay strong and healthy, and osteoporosis will never rear its ugly head. But there’s a catch…

Which hormone plays a more dramatic role in the bone health of women?

Estrogen, Progesterone, and Testosterone. Estrogen. Estrogen plays a fundamental role in skeletal growth. 1 And that goes for women and men. But it’s true that estrogen plays a more dramatic role in the bone health of women. And that’s because of menopause.

Can you control osteoporosis?

There are many factors that contribute to bone loss and osteoporosis. Some are out of your control, like your gender and your family history. But as we’ve outlined on this page, there are causes for osteoporosis you do have control over. There are things you can do, or changes you can make today to stop bone loss in its tracks and even build new bone.

Does Crohn's disease cause osteoporosis?

106 And vitamin D deficiency is one of the most irrefutable links to osteoporosis because of vitamin D’s role in calcium absorption. What’s more, the worst cases of Crohn’s disease can amplify the vitamin D and calcium absorption issue.

What are the risk factors for osteoporosis?

There are characteristics you can’t control that can increase your risk of developing osteoporosis. These risk factors include: 1 Being female. Osteoporosis mostly affects women. 2 Age. Risk increases as people age. 3 Body frame. Smaller, thinner people have less bone mass to begin with. 4 Ethnicity. People who are Caucasian or of Asian descent have the greatest risk. 5 Family history of the condition. People whose parents have osteoporosis are at a higher risk of developing the disease.

Why are my bones not strong?

Your bones don’t become as strong if you’re inactive. Inactivity leads to less protection against osteoporosis.

What is the condition that makes bones weak?

Osteoporosis is a bone disease. It causes you to lose too much bone, make too little bone, or both. This condition makes bones become very weak and puts you at risk of breaking bones during normal activity.

What vitamins help build bone?

Calcium helps build bone, and vitamin D aids in maintaining bone strength and health.

What are the best foods to keep bones strong?

Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and minerals, such as potassium and vitamin C that can help bones stay strong.

Does smoking affect bone health?

Changes in hormones caused by smoking might alter the activity and function of bone cells as well. The good news is, the effects of smoking on bone health seem to be reversible, which means if you smoke, quitting can help.

Does smoking cause bone loss?

Research indicates that cigarette smoking may lead to bone loss and an increased risk of fracture. Smoking can be especially problematic when it occurs along with low weight, low physical activity, and poor diet.

Which is more likely to develop osteoporosis: men or women?

Women are more likely to develop osteoporosis than men.

How do you know if you have osteoporosis?

The only two ‘visible’ signs that may suggest that you have osteoporosis include: Loss of height of 4 cm or more (just over an inch) Development of a stoop, or curved upper back. These are signs of possible spine fractures (your doctor may call them ‘vertebral fractures’).

Why are inactive people more likely to fracture their hips?

Adults who are inactive are more likely to have a hip fracture than those who are more active. Low dietary calcium intake. Calcium is a very important nutrient for bone health. With age, the body’s ability to absorb calcium declines, which is one of the reasons why seniors also require higher amounts.

What are some diseases that can weaken bones?

Other diseases. Some diseases may weaken bones and increase the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Among these, the more common diseases and disorders are: Rheumatoid arthritis (note: this is a major and common risk factor!)

Can prednisone cause osteoporosis?

Certain medications have side effects that are linked to osteoporosis or increased fracture risk. These include: Long-term glucocorticoid therapy: these medications (e.g. prednisone) are often used to treat arthritis or asthma. Using glucocorticoids for three months or more places you at higher risk of fracture.

Does oestrogen cause bone loss?

Menopause/hysterectomy. Oestrogen has a protective effect on bone, and with menopause women start to lose bone at a faster rate. That’s why women who have early menopause (before age 45) or have had a hysterectomy, are at greater risk. Medications.

Is rheumatoid arthritis a major risk factor?

Rheumatoid arthritis (note: this is a major and common risk factor!)