Osteoporosis is a major health problem in North America – affecting both men and women According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 1 out of 4 women and 1 out of 8 men over 50 years of age have osteoporosis. In the United States, The National Osteoporosis Foundation reports that 8 million women and 2 million men are estimated to already have osteoporosis, and almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis.
As the population ages, the number of people with osteoporosis will rise.
The Osteoporosis Foundation of Canada offers this very interesting FAQ on the disease. It reviews risk factors, how to prevent the onset or worsening of osteoporosis, and the importance of exercise, among other issues.
Prevention osteoporosis and the resulting problems is something that needs to be taken seriously. As the article, Osteoporosis a silent killer, explains, osteoporosis not only causes pain and discomfort, it can cause death.
The well-known “hump-back” that many older people have is the result of osteoporosis. The bones (vertebrae) in the spine are collapsing and breaking, causing this humped appearance. This can affect mobility and cause pain but, importantly, it can affect breathing as the lungs don’t have the space to expand properly. We also have heard many stories about a senior being seemingly perfectly healthy until they fall and break a hip – then they deteriorate to not being able to live alone or die. The issue wasn’t the actual fall and broken hip, it is often the osteoporosis that made the break possible and healing impossible.
Here is a good quote, taken from the Osteoporosis Foundation of Canada: “Osteoporosis has been called a pediatric disease with geriatric consequences.” The time to begin preventing osteoporosis is from childhood. If a child receives the proper nutrients to build stronger bones, this will help him or her later on in life.
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Osteoporosis a silent killer
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Osteoporosis - truly a silent killer
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3 comments:
The new headline today is that one in four workers suffer depression, but there is a qualifier in the diagnosis which should be taken into consideration and which would dramatically reduce the numbers:
D. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).
Most people who use airfreshioners (or personal care products which contain airfreshioner) don't realise that they are engaging in drug abuse or giving free samples to others. Air freshioner is designed to coat the air and anything which comes in contact with the air.
Some people get the headache when exposed and others get bad symptoms when away from their unwitting drug of choice. Anything which is advertised to make you feel "relaxed" when exposed to it, makes one feel "down" when one moves from exposed to hungover/chemical withdrawl.
And an advertised "relaxed" through inhaling various airfreshioner based products means not as alert and lowered reading comprehension. Lowered alertness tends to make one feel less stressed.
My bias - I use the Nature Clean veggie wash to wash dishes because when they changed the formula for their dish soap, it became too strong for me. I was not always this sensitive - but it seemed to take less to get me wasted every time I had a hangover lasting more than two days - and most of those hangovers were due to exposure in the workplace.
That's an interesting point. Many people don't like the smell of so-called air fresheners. I've tried many, but just don't like them.
Thanks,
My leg used to sink in on the left side and would give away if I bent it where the leg joined the body but 5MG a day of apo-gabapentin seems to have taken care of the problem. If you take 10MG or more your face tends to go all Jim Carey and you get bad heart burn. If exposed to airfreshioner, it acts like you took a bit higher dose. Otherwise, it has given me back part of my life.
I don't know if that would help with Osteoporosis or not. Think it was more a central nervous system weakness than muscle or osteoporosis.
The other problem is with neck weakness (having trouble holding head up) - but mainly if exposed to something. Woke up the beginning of August and couldn't for a while but other than that it is solely exposure related.
Osteoporosis strikes me as the actual breaking of a weakened bone rather than the leg just giving away when you bend it.
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