May is National Osteoporosis Awareness Month

By: Red Hot Mamas

Published: May 4, 2016

Osteoporosis literally means “porous bones” that become more brittle and breaks easily. Bone is continually being broken down and replaced.  When you have osteoporosis, more bone is broken than being built and this causes more bone loss to occur.  Your bones can break more easily.
Before menopause estrogen protects our bones.  However, when menopause occurs, and our levels of estrogen decline, we lose bone density.

Estrogen deficiency occurring at menopause is the most likely factor that women develop osteopenia (low bone mass) and osteoporosis.  It may rapidly occur in the first five years after menopause, when bone loss can reach 3 to 4 percent of total bone mass.

Osteoporosis is called “the silent disease” because it has no symptoms until bone loss is significant and fractures occur, most commonly in the wrist, spine and hip.

We encourage everyone to get to know their risk factors for osteoporosis and make the lifestyle changes needed to build strong bones for life.

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Source: https://www.nof.org/about-us/building-awareness/national-osteoporosis-month/