25 Facts About Your Bones and Osteoporosis

People used to think that getting osteoporosis was a normal part of aging. As it turns out, osteoporosis is a disease you can do something about. It can be prevented, detected and treated. It’s never too late to take action to protect your bones.

Here are 25 facts about your bones and osteoporosis.

1. Bone is living, growing tissue that is both flexible and strong.
2. Throughout life, you are constantly losing old bone and forming new bone.
3. Osteoporosis happens when you lose too much bone, make too little of it or both.
4. You need to get enough calcium and vitamin D every day to keep your bones healthy.
5. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables benefits your body in many ways, including your bones.
6. Staying physically active helps keep your bones strong and healthy. You should exercise at least 2 and a half hours every week. That’s 150 minutes, and more is even better.
7. Today ten million people in the U.S. are estimated to have osteoporosis.
8. About two million men and eight million women have osteoporosis.
9. Some medicines and some diseases can cause bone loss.
10. Certain diseases that are more common in African American women, such as sickle cell anemia and lupus, can lead to osteoporosis.
11. About 20 percent of Asian American women age 50 and older have osteoporosis.
12. Between the ages of 20 and 80, Caucasian women lose about one-third of the bone mineral density in their hip.
13. Broken hips among Latinas in the U.S. appear to be on the rise.
14. Young women whose mothers had broken bones as an adult have an increased risk for osteoporosis.
15. African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are more likely to be lactose intolerant than Caucasians. This makes it difficult to eat dairy products and get enough calcium.
16. Women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone density in the five to seven years after
    menopause.
17. Bone loss usually speeds up at midlife in both men and women.
18. People with osteoporosis cannot feel their bones getting weaker, and many people do not  know they have osteoporosis until they break a bone.
19. People with osteoporosis most often break a bone in the hip, spine or wrist. But they can also break other bones.
20. Bones break more easily in people with osteoporosis, sometimes from simple actions such as sneezing, hugging or bumping into furniture.
21. Half of all women and up to one in four men older than 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.
22. Breaking bones in the spine can cause sharp back pain that does not go away, or there can be no pain at all.
23. Osteoporosis and the broken bones it causes can be prevented.
24. Find out if you have osteoporosis before you break a bone. Ask your healthcare provider when you should have a bone mineral density (BMD) test.
25. You are never too young or too old to protect your bones. Now is the time to take action.

25th Anniversary Educational Resources

• 25 Ways to Improve Your Bone Health
• 25 Ways to Prevent Falls
• 25 Ways to Feel Good About Yourself
• 25 Calcium-Rich Foods