Archive for category Bone Health
The Meaning of Bone Health, Bone Density and Fracture Risk
Posted by admin in Bone Health on October 7, 2011
Bone’s Major Functions
Bone has three major functions. The first involves providing a structural support for your heart, lungs, marrow and other organs and the attachment sites for muscles so that you can move your arms, legs and head. Think of what a blob you would be without your bones to give you structure. The second function involves providing protection for your brain and other internal organs. Finally, bone acts as a mineral storage bank for calcium and phosphorus helping to maintain a proper acid/base balance in your body called pH. So you can see that your bones have more than just one function.
The Importance of Bone Quality
The term bone quality may be new to you but it is an important one to understand. Bone quality then describes all the components that keep it strong and fracture free. So by weight, bone is composed of about 10% collagen matrix, 65% minerals and 25% water. It is not just the minerals but all three components working together that keep your bones strong and fracture free. Read the rest of this entry »
Affordable Supplements To Assure Good Bone Health
Posted by admin in Bone Health on October 2, 2011
In 2005 approximately 10 million Americans suffered from osteoporosis resulting in about 2 million fractures. The health care cost of this was around 19 billion dollars. It affects 50% of women and 25% of men over the age of 50. A good portion of this could have been avoided with proper nutrition combined with some very affordable supplements.
We are starting to see that we are recommending to much calcium to combat this problem and that bone-density scans are not as accurate as once thought in predicting who will and will not have a fracture.
DEFINING OSTEOPOROSIS
The characteristics of osteoporosis are low bone mass and the structural deterioration of the bone tissue. This causes the bone to be fragile and susceptible to fractures. The hip, spine and wrist are the most common bones to have fractures but they can occur anywhere. Our bones protect our vital organs, provide strength for muscles, and store calcium. Bone is a complex living tissue and not just a lifeless structure.
Diet and exercise can affect bones because they constantly changing. Up until the age of 30 we are efficiently building up our bone. After that the ageing process starts to set in and we are breaking down bone at a faster rate than we are forming new bone. Read the rest of this entry »