Osteoporosis is associated with many often conflicting rumors and conjectures. What is true in them, but what is fiction?
Tells the full member of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, director of the Institute of Regenerative Biomedicine in Moscow Olga Garrievna Savelyeva.
Myth 1: Osteoporosis is a problem in older women.
Yes and no. Osteoporosis refers to a decrease in bone density, which results in a decrease in the strength of the bones themselves. They become brittle - and break.
About one in three women over 65 knows firsthand what a fracture is. Including as complex as the thigh neck. Such is the bleak statistics today. And, unfortunately, the situation continues to deteriorate. Every year more and more fractures are noted, osteoporosis takes on the character of a “silent epidemic”.
Most often, older women encounter it. Osteoporosis in this case is an independent disease. This is due to various factors, and primarily with hormonal changes in the body. During menopause, a sharp decrease in the synthesis of sex hormones by the ovaries occurs. And 3-5 years after the onset of postmenopause, it almost completely ceases. This inevitably entails bone loss.
Older women move less, are less likely to be on the street. It is known that physical activity is a powerful anti-osteoporotic, it helps to build bone mass. And vitamin D, obtained when exposed to the sun, helps the absorption of calcium, which is so necessary for bones.
In addition, the activity of the gastrointestinal tract decreases with age, and it begins to absorb the same calcium more slowly. But this microelement enters mainly through food.
But there is another side to the issue. Osteoporosis occurs at a fairly young age. Then it has an accompanying character, that is, it occurs with certain health problems.
The mechanisms of action here are slightly different than at an older age. First of all, it is necessary to eliminate the main cause, then bone metabolism is normalized.
Myth 2: If a woman suffers from osteoporosis, her daughter will inevitably encounter him.
Absolutely optional. Heredity matters, but not decisive. A much more significant decrease in physical activity, levels of sex hormones, unbalanced nutrition. It is also important whether the woman belongs to the so-called osteoporotic type. It is known that skinny slender women with fair skin, coffee and cigarette lovers are most prone to this ailment.
So better think about lifestyle and nutritional changes.
And of course, don't forget about the examinations. Now, the densitometry is the gold standard in the diagnosis of early osteoporosis. This examination helps to evaluate the very first, still minor violations of bone metabolism. This means that there is an opportunity to "hedge" and take preventive measures.
Such an examination is advisable to regularly pass to all women after 45 years. And certainly for those who have already started menopause.
If there is a hereditary predisposition, then you should think about it even earlier - at 30–35 years.
Myth 3: There will be no problems with bones if there are a lot of calcium-containing foods in the diet.
There is always calcium in foods. The problem is that it must be absorbed by bone cells. For this, female sex hormones are largely responsible, which at an older age becomes less. They can no longer cope effectively with their duties, and then the bone exchange is disrupted.
Just the right calcium-balanced diet is not enough. We need funds that will help the body absorb it. Phytohormones and phytoestrogens are good as such helpers. Through the synthesis of hormones, they improve the absorption of calcium in the gastrointestinal tract, enhance bone self-renewal processes, and reduce the manifestations of muscle weakness.
A few more nutritional recommendations. With osteoporosis, you should adhere to restrictions on the use of meat and foods high in protein, which increase the excretion of calcium in the urine. For the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, alkalization of the body - drinking alkaline water - is of great importance. Without them, the success of any "anti-osteoporotic" therapy would be incomplete.
Myth 4: Calcium and Vitamin D3 dietary supplements protect against osteoporosis.
Any preparations containing calcium and vitamin D3 will work if the body has enough sex hormones and parathyroid hormones.
There is a lot of calcium in food. In order for it to be absorbed, you need to establish the work of the intestine and restore the function of bone cells. Then they can absorb the absorbed calcium and direct it to the construction of the bone.
If this does not happen, then calcium preparations will not inhibit osteoporosis, but will enhance the development of atherosclerosis. Since the excess amount of this trace element circulating in the blood will be deposited on the walls of blood vessels. Which sooner or later can lead to cardiovascular problems and increase the risk of heart attack.
Myth 5: The safest and most effective treatment for osteoporosis is phytohormones.
Often confused are related concepts - phytohormones and phytoestrogens. They give a good effect in the treatment of osteoporosis and menopause. Phytoestrogens have estrogenic effects, and phytohormones cope well with the symptoms of menopause and premenstrual syndromes.
Both of them can influence the restoration of hormone synthesis in the body and act as anti-osteoporotic drugs.
Phytoestrogens have been found to reduce the risk of cancer of the prostate, breast and colon. Prolonged use of food additives or foods rich in phytoestrogens helps to normalize hormones and protects against osteoporosis. However, they do not have the negative qualities of hormone replacement therapy.
RECIPE FOR OSTEOPOROZOE number 1
4 fresh eggs, preferably daily (in a store labeled C1), wash thoroughly with hot water and soap.
Wash and slice 3 lemons in small pieces.
Put all the products in a 700-gram jar so that the eggs are completely surrounded by lemons on all sides. When laying, lemon slices need to be well tamped. Close the jar with a plastic cover and put it away for 2 weeks in a dark, cool place (not in the refrigerator). The jar can be left in the kitchen, if not very hot.
The very next day it will be seen that the egg shell began to foam and become loose.
After two weeks, the shell should completely dissolve, and only the protein with the yolk, enclosed in a film, remains from the egg.
If this did not happen and the shell did not completely dissolve, then the lemons were slightly succulent. Pour the whole mass into a bowl, remove the eggs. Squeeze the lemons well, squeeze the squeezes out.
With the remaining eggs, different can be done in two ways. Either pierce and mix the yolk protein with lemon tincture, or simply throw it away. In the first case, the liquid turns out to be excessively vigorous and nasty.
Store the resulting tincture in a jar with a lid in the refrigerator. Take 1 teaspoon per day for adults and 0.5 teaspoon for children. Be sure to drink tincture with clean water. Reception is 10 days.
Attention! Tincture is contraindicated in case of gastric ulcer and gastritis (with high acidity). 1 tablespoon of this concentrate per day is enough to replenish the body with 27 trace elements.
RECIPE FOR OSTEOPOROZOE number 2
Boil hard-boiled eggs with a white shell (cook for 15 minutes after boiling). Then clean from the inner film, dry, removing it in a dark, well-ventilated place. Usually, after a few hours, the shell dries well. If it doesn’t go into action right away, then you need to put it in a glass jar with a screw-in metal or plastic lid. In such a package, in a dark place at room temperature, the shell can be stored for a long time.
Then crush the shell into powder (and not into fine powder). You can use a coffee grinder, and then crush it into powder in porcelain dishes. It is recommended to use metal utensils for chopping the shell.
Before use, the powder must be "extinguished" with a few drops of fresh lemon juice (like baking soda). Never replace natural lemon juice with citric acid! Adding lemon juice causes an instant chemical reaction (a characteristic hiss appears, as if soda water is being poured into a glass). In this case, the calcium salts contained in the shell go into a form well absorbed by the body (calcium citrate). As Professor Yu.I. Moskalev in his book “Mineral Exchange”, “Citric acid forms with calcium a strong, highly soluble complex that can be easily absorbed in the intestines. Increased incorporation of calcium into the bone tissue of chickens occurred only if citric acid and calcium were administered through the mouth at the same time.
"Adult" rate - 1 teaspoon per day before meals or during meals. "Children's" - 0.5 teaspoon. It can be divided into two receptions (for example, with breakfast and lunch). The course of treatment is 2 months. The effect of treatment begins to appear no earlier than 3-4 weeks later. This remedy also helps with skin manifestations of allergies, with caries.
It is also useful to use shell powder, having previously “extinguished” it with juice (syrup) of viburnum berries or cranberries. You can drink the powdered shell from citrus and apple juices, cranberry juice, kefir or fish oil, where there is a lot of vitamin D and iodine.
RECIPE №3 Calcium Water
It was noted that the presence of calcium in water can prolong a person’s life for many years. It is well known that on one Japanese skeleton there was a record number of centenarians who looked pretty good at their age. As it turned out, they drank water containing a large amount of calcium due to the presence of corals near the island, which provided calcium with water. According to the research, it became clear that the eggshell deserves attention and from it you can make excellent calcium water.
How to do it?
For the preparation of calcium water, it is better to use a shell from boiled eggs. Annealing and boiling do not fundamentally change the healing properties of the eggshell.
Place the chopped eggshell from 2-3 eggs in a 3-liter jar of drinking water, while thoroughly clean the shell from the inner whitish film. This water can be used for tea, coffee, soups and any dishes. Such water can always be taken.
Calcium water is absorbed much better than crushed ordinary egg shells.
What is useful eggshell?
- The shell consists of 90% calcium carbonate (calcium carbonate), which is easily absorbed by the body. It contains copper, fluorine, iron, manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, zinc, as well as silicon and molybdenum, which is so poor in our everyday food.
- Russian scientist V.V. Karavaev, who developed an effective system of healing the body, recommends taking crushed shells to normalize the alkaline-acid balance.
- - The shell displays radionuclides. It enhances the vital activity of cells, helps strengthen the heart muscle, as well as skeletal and ocular muscles.
- - Useful for stomach pain, asthma, arthritis, osteoporosis, bone injuries, rheumatism, urticaria, constipation, insomnia and to eliminate allergic reactions.
- - The composition of the shell coincides with the composition of bones and teeth, so it should be taken with brittleness and brittle nails, bleeding gums, tooth sensitivity to cold or hot food, toothache.
- - Powder from the shell can serve as a powder when opening burns.
- - In ancient medical books, it is claimed that powdered shells, taken with natural grape wine, stop diarrhea and also crush stones in the kidneys and bladder.
- - It is especially important to add shells to women who are expecting a baby’s birth, as well as children from one year to 6 years old, since bone formation processes in their organisms are most intense and require uninterrupted calcium intake. The shell, which is included in baby food for up to a year, is extremely beneficial for rickets and anemia (consult your doctor!).
- - It is advisable to take the shell also in adolescence and youth. For adults (for the prevention of diseases of the spine, osteoporosis and dental caries), it is advisable to use the shell twice a year, with health-improving courses for 15-20 days.
1. Keep an eye on nutrition
To prevent osteoporosis, all women after 45–50 years of age are primarily advised to monitor their diet - consume foods containing fiber (vegetables, fruits). A lack of fiber leads to intestinal dysbiosis, which reduces the absorption of calcium, iron and other trace elements, which play a key role in strengthening bones. Therefore, the basis of a woman’s diet during menopause should be milk, cottage cheese, hard cheese, sesame - foods enriched with calcium. The menu must necessarily contain fish and seafood, as they are the main source of omega-3 fatty acids, a deficiency of which also leads to osteoporosis. It is important to eat pomegranates, lean beef, beef liver, dark varieties of honey - they have a lot of iron.
These products should prevail in the diet and form its basis, but this does not mean that other products should be completely excluded. Nevertheless, it is not recommended to eat fatty foods and sweets in large quantities.
2. Do not reduce activity
But proper nutrition is not the only thing necessary to maintain health during menopause. A woman should get enough sleep and lead an active lifestyle. When choosing a sport, it is important to remember that exercise should carry the load on all muscle groups. Since sex hormones are involved in calcium-magnesium metabolism, their lack reduces the absorption of calcium from the blood into the bone. When muscles work, blood circulation and blood supply improves, and, therefore, nutrition of bones, and the delivery of necessary trace elements to them.
3. Talk with your doctor about HRT
Hormonal drugs act on the heart, on the mammary gland, and on other organs, but this is not a disadvantage, this is their feature. Doctors just use it, because all body systems are subject to gradual aging. And here the main thing is to choose the right individual dose and the right drug for a particular patient. Today, the general trend is as follows: for HRT, a relatively safe period of 5 years. For 1−2 years, HRT is prescribed in order to cope with the “tides” in order to cope with osteoporosis - for 5 years. As for the dose, at first the therapy follows the route of prescribing the lowest-dose drug. And then, if it is not enough, a more highly dosed dosage is prescribed.
In Russia, HRT is taken by 0.2% of women of mature and older age. In Moscow - 3%. 20-30% of women are quite easily, without obvious symptoms, go through the initial stage of menopause and therefore do not go to the gynecologist on time. They let menopause drift, being confident that the main thing is to be patient and wait out the natural disaster. In the West, more than 35% of women over 45 successfully use HRT.
The goal of HRT is to prevent bone loss in the future in order to protect against fractures, but also such therapy can remove vegetative dysfunction (hot flashes), improve some metabolic rates, reduce the risk of certain forms of cancer, improve memory, the state of the vascular and genitourinary systems.
Since the main goal of HRT is the prevention of diseases of old age, the final decision always remains with the woman. And when the doctor tells her the pros and cons, the woman needs to think whether to agree to treatment or not.
Of course, HRT is not a panacea, and it has its pros and cons, but: firstly, a competent examination is necessary before prescribing hormonal therapy to exclude possible contraindications, and secondly, the time for timely administration of HRT, the so-called “therapeutic window”, is important . Therefore, every woman who wants to extend her youth, to maintain her health and an active lifestyle, should raise the question of HRT for herself and her gynecologist, starting at the age of 45.
The main thing to remember - osteoporosis is curable!
Glukhova Nadezhda Konstantinovna, gynecologist of the Clinical Hospital on Yauza
Only elderly people suffer from osteoporosis
Basically, the disease is associated with age-related changes in the hormonal background, contributing to the leaching of calcium from the body. However, do not forget that in 80% of cases it is genetically determined. This means that in the presence of osteoporosis in a family history, the risk of its occurrence at a young age increases.
При приеме некоторых лекарственных средств не исключена вероятность развития (вне зависимости от возраста) так называемого вторичного остеопороза. At risk are patients who are treated with glucocorticosteroids (for example, hydrocortisone, prednisone, dexamethasone), barbiturates, anticonvulsants, and thyroid hormones. In addition, secondary osteoporosis can be a consequence of type 1 diabetes mellitus, cirrhosis, pathologies of the parathyroid glands, kidney and liver diseases.
The disease is manifested by severe pain
The initial stage of the disease, as a rule, proceeds completely imperceptibly. A person does not feel any signs of increased fragility of the bones until he finds himself in a situation involving trauma. As progression, osteoporosis can be manifested by negative changes in posture (stoop) and a decrease in growth. People suffering from this disease for several years have dull, aching pains in the lumbar region, aggravated by movement.
Prevention of osteoporosis is complex and costly
Preventive measures aimed at filling the lack of calcium in the body must be carried out from 25-30 years of age. They are available to everyone. It is enough to eat right, limit the consumption of coffee and salt, lead an active lifestyle, reasonably dosing physical activity. It is important to periodically take sunbaths: ultraviolet rays contribute to the formation of vitamin D in the body, without which normal absorption of calcium is impossible. You should stop smoking, as nicotine intake is a risk factor for osteoporosis.
Men do not get osteoporosis
Representatives of the stronger sex really suffer from osteoporosis less often than women, and a decrease in bone strength in men does not occur so quickly. But no one is safe from the disease. Along with heredity, risk factors include the presence of chronic diseases and unhealthy habits, physical inactivity, unbalanced nutrition (especially the rejection of dairy products, fish and dried fruits).
The disease is not life threatening.
To some extent, this is true: no one has died directly from osteoporosis. However, bone fragility is a very dangerous condition. It is enough that a poorly healing fracture is fraught with a significant decrease in the quality of life, constant pain, limited mobility and a decrease in interest in the outside world, which can lead an elderly person to fatal consequences. According to statistics, only 15% of elderly people who have had a hip fracture manage to restore their lost mobility. Most of these patients die within a year of the injury.
The risk of developing osteoporosis is the same for all people
This is not true. In women, the likelihood of developing osteoporosis is associated with the specifics of age-related changes in the hormonal background: early menopause increases the risk of an ailment. It has been proven that those who are weaker are at greater risk for whom, with high growth, body weight is disproportionately small. In addition, the disease has an ethnic connection: in fair-skinned Europeans, osteoporosis is more common than in representatives of the Mongoloid or Negroid race.
Loss of bone cannot be stopped and made up
To date, this statement can be considered obsolete. There are medications, the intake of which helps to establish calcium metabolism and improve bone quality, to some extent reduce bone fragility and slow down the development of osteoporosis.
Of course, treatment should be prescribed by a specialist, since many drugs have contraindications. In addition, the patient should be constantly under medical supervision.
Diagnosis of osteoporosis is very difficult
Pathological changes in bone tissue occur slowly, without affecting well-being. To assess the prospect of developing an ailment in a particular person, you can use a special computer program - FRAX. To do this, personal risk factors are introduced into it, and the calculator calculates the likelihood of osteoporosis for the next ten years.
In addition, there is osteodensitometry - a diagnostic procedure that allows you to quantify the mineral density of bones. It should be periodically taken by patients belonging to a risk group or taking drugs against osteoporosis (to monitor the effectiveness of treatment). The study is a mild, sparing version of X-ray scans, absolutely safe and painless.
Osteoporosis medicines are dangerous
Therapy consists of taking specific drugs that help the body form bone tissue, as well as drugs containing high doses of calcium and vitamin D. During clinical trials, it has been found that medications for osteoporosis can trigger allergic reactions. Occasionally, skin lesions (eczema, including infectious origin) occur.
The danger of treating osteoporosis is primarily associated with its duration. Specific drugs must be drunk, usually within 5-7 years (sometimes with a break for 1-2 years). That is why patients should be under constant medical supervision and strictly observe the dosage of prescribed medications.
Physical activity in osteoporosis is contraindicated
This is not true. Dosed physical activity helps to build up the upper layer of bone tissue and strengthen the skeleton. Of course, the complex of exercises should be made by an experienced specialist, taking into account the individual characteristics of each patient and in contact with his attending physician. However, occupations in the gym can be successfully replaced with regular walking: it is proved that walking for half an hour a day not only does not harm patients with osteoporosis, but also significantly improves their condition and reduces the risk of fractures.
Osteoporosis is a very common disease. Reducing the personal risk of developing an ailment is easy, everyone can do it. It is necessary to eat right from youth, not give in to bad habits and lead an active lifestyle, and in adulthood - to monitor your condition, periodically visiting doctors and undergoing diagnostic procedures.
Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:
Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov, specialty "General Medicine".
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