What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes very weak bones that break easily. Women are five times more likely to get osteoporosis than men. There is no way to stop or cure it but there things you can do to slow it down.
What causes osteoporosis?
- It can run in families.
- Not enough calcium and vitamin D in the diet.
- Not getting enough exercise.
- Women who've gone through menopause are more likely to have it.
Anyone can get osteoporosis, but some people have a higher chance than others:-
- People who used a certain medicines for a long time, like:-
- Some hormones
- Medicines for seizures
- Some medicines for asthma, arthritis or cancer
How do I know know if I have osteoporosis?
- There are test that use either s-rays or sound waves to measure bone density.
- Ask your doctor about wihich test you might need.
- Get enough calcium. Women under 50 years old need at least 1000 mg of calcium each day. Women over 50 need at least 1200mg of calcium.
- Get enough vitamin D. Women under 50 years old need at 200IU of vitamin D. Women over 50 need at 400 IU of vitamin D.
- Get exercise every day like walking or biking.
- If you drink alcohol, don't drink more than one glass per day.
from : http://www.fda.gov/women
