STAND TALL:
Aging Need Not Shorten Your Lifespan or Your Height
Dr. Ronald Klatz

    Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease that affects humans. It is characterized by reduced bone mass and a deterioration in the skeletal framework, which lead to increased risks for both fractures and gravity-related compressions of the vertebrae (the bones that compose the spine), both of which can result with age-related loss of height.

    Osteoporosis is a costly disease, affecting 44 million American men and women, at a cost of $17 billion to the nation’s healthcare system. Often referred to as a silent disease,” osteoporosis often progresses without symptoms until a fracture occurs, most commonly in the hip (300,000 annually), spine (500,000 annually), wrist (200,000 annually), and other locations (300,000 annually). After experiencing a fracture, disability, stooped posture, severe and/or chronic pain, depression, and premature death may result.

    Calcium is essential for the maintenance of many body functions, including the transmission of nerve impulses, the regulation of muscle contraction and relaxation, blood clotting, maintaining acid-alkaline balance in the body, and assisting with various metabolic activities. At a daily intake of 1000 to 1300 mg, calcium helps to maintain strong bones and teeth. Some researchers say menopausal women need a bit more, 1500mg. It is not recommended to take more than 2000 mg on a long-term basis because doing so creates an increased risk of kidney stones.

    After a women turns 50, she has a 50% chance that she will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture at some time in her life. You are never too young to maintain healthy calcium uptake. Remember when mom sat you at the kitchen table to drink your milk, usually several times a day, and usually begrudgingly you did? Mom was right. One 8-ounce glass of lowfat milk contains about 300 mg of calcium. Calciumrich foods include egg yolk, fish or sardines (eaten with bones), yogurt, soybeans, green leafy vegetables (such as turnip greens, mustard greens, broccoli and kale), roots, tubers, seeds, soups and stews made from bones, blackstrap molasses, almonds, figs and beans.

    While this issue of Nutri-News has a theme of Women’s Health, we would be remiss if we did not convey that men do get osteoporosis. Men are less dependent on estrogen and have more bone mass to begin with, however their osteoporosis risk increases when testosterone production decreases (as occurs in aging, in men being treated for prostate cancer, or in men who have had testicular surgery.) Postmenopausal osteoporosis that causes hip fracture will cause:

    New findings, released in May 2003, from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Harvard University, Boston MA, USA), found that women with low bone mass in their later years are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers submitted that this relationship originates from the decline in estrogen production at menopause, and that lifetime estrogen levels may become a new marker for osteoporosis risk in women. For men, the researchers found no relationship between bone mass and memory decline. Remember, bones are constantly being dissolved and remade throughout life. Osteoporosis results when bone degradation occurs at a faster rate than bone building. To tip the cycle to favor the latter, follow a basic and simple osteoporosis-fighting regimen that includes a quality supplement that includes a form of calcium that your body best absorbs and tolerates, Vitamin D/sunlight, magnesium, phosphorus, and hydrochloric acid. By doing so, you can stand tall as you celebrate your 100th birthday.

References
”A4M Anti-Aging Desk Reference, 2003 edn,” Anti-Aging Medical News Fall 2003.

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