The Signs Of Menopause

Effects of Osteoporosis and Menopause

One of the conditions a woman must be concerned about is osteoporosis. This may usually occur right after menopause. However, there are steps you can take to alleviate it.

Osteoporosis is simply bone loss. It is inherent in aging for both men and women, although women are more susceptible to it.
Because a woman’s bone density is less than that of a man, this allows more time for the bone to age. The loss of bone mass begins approximately at age 40. After menopause, there is an acceleration of five to seven years at which point it returns to its normal age-related rate.

A Necessary Change in Your lifestyle

The most effective way to maintain the strength of your bones requires a combination of lifestyle changes and dietary measures, such as: discontinue smoking; ensure you are following a nutritional diet, with sufficient calcium amounts and included supplements of vitamin D in your dietary regimen.

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Make-sport with 30 minutes exercise a day, three or four days a week; exercise caution to prevent falls. It is very important to take these precautionary measures such as proper diet, exercise and vitamins to prevent the loss of bone mass.

The absence of estrogen has less to do with bone loss than aging. In fact, smoking, medications, and being underweight have a greater effect on bone loss. Don’t forget the importance of regular exercise, because it will help you to increase your bone mass.

While osteoporosis can lead to loss of height and tiny fractures, women are also vulnerable to fractures of the hip. That’s why you should ask your doctor to take a bone density test to determine just how much bone loss has occurred.

The bone density test encompasses taking an X-ray scan which can measure the bone density of your lumbar spine. It’s because the spine is usually the first area to experience loss of bone mass. You probably don’t need a special scan to identify bone loss if you have lost height each year. However, if you have just begun perimenopause or are in the stages of menopause, it may be a good idea to have the test done now.

If after the test you are told your bone loss is minimal, you may decide to do nothing. But it is still important to keep your bones strong and you may wish to keep tabs on the progress of bone loss through tests. If, on the other hand, you are told that your rate of bone loss is significant, you may want to take a proactive approach to prevent osteoporosis.

Clearly, osteoporosis can rear its ugly head at some point. But you can take appropriate action to ensure you are doing everything you can to prevent the onset or, at the very least, stopping its progression.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Dealing with Menopause. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.