Archive for Апрель 20th, 2009
ALTERNATIVES TO HRT/BONE HEALTH: FOOD AND DRINKS WHICH REDUCE THE AVAILABILITY OF CALCIUM
Some food and drinks reduce the availability of calcium to bones. These include large amounts of bran, spinach, broccoli and protein in the diet, more than five cups of coffee a day, and excessive alcohol.
Whatever the source of calcium, taking some of it in the evening will help to minimise bone loss overnight. The traditional warm milky drink before bedtime may have more going for it than merely being an aid to sleep!
People with existing osteoporosis absorb calcium less efficiently than others, and this is often linked with a deficiency of vitamin D, which is produced by the skin in the presence of sunlight. By ensuring regular small amounts of exposure to sun (sometimes a problem for elderly people with mobility problems), or by taking vitamin D in a multivitamin capsule, you can improve calcium absorption. Osteoporosis researchers urge women taking vitamin D supplements not to overdo it, as this can worsen the body’s calcium balance.
Various non-hormonal medications are being studied for an effect on bone health, including calcitonin, thiazide, sodium fluoride, anabolic steroids and etidronate. It is too early, as yet, to advocate any of these as an aid to preventing or treating osteoporosis.
Giving up smoking, if they have a cigarette habit, is one of the most helpful things women can do to reduce their risk of developing osteoporosis, according to a US study reported at the Fourth International Symposium on Osteoporosis in 1993. Among a group of nearly 8000 postmenopausal women, those who smoked were nearly three times more likely to sustain a hip fracture than non-smokers when all factors were taken into account. Other research has found that women who do not smoke, or who stop smoking before menopause, cut their risk of a hip fracture by 25 per cent.
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