May is National Osteoporosis Month!

Posted on: 2014 05 19

by Cathy Michaels, General Manager Earlier in May we talked about not only spring-cleaning our homes, but also our diets.  The article mentioned limiting processed foods, decreasing our intake of saturated fats, increasing our intake of fresh veggies and fruits, as well as decreasing our sugar intake just to name a few.  What was not mentioned was the importance of calcium and vitamin D which is essential to strong bone health and the importance of getting an assessment of your bone health now before it’s too late.  We certainly can’t stop our bodies from aging, but we do have control over how we age. It is very well researched and documented that as we age we can lose more bone that we form.  For many of us in midlife, bone loss usually speeds up and can lead to Osteoporosis which happens when we make too little new bone or lose too much bone or sometimes both.  Paying close attention to our bone health is essential to continuing to lead active lives in later years. There are several reputable website that are great sources of information.  A few that we recommend are: National Osteoporosis Foundation which can be found at nof.org Mayo Clinic at www.mayoclinic.org The National Institute of Health: https://nihseniorhealth.gov/osteoporosis   Here at Armistead we encourage folks we talk with to have a plan in place before a crisis strikes. The same applies to our bone health. The more we take care of our bone health now by maintaining a regimen of healthy diet including calcium and vitamin D fortified foods, sunlight when possible which we know isn't always easy here in the northeast (don’t forget your sunscreen!), taking a supplement if needed, and getting plenty of weight-bearing exercise on a daily basis the less likely we will be to break a bone in the future.  Remember to consult with your physician before starting any training program if you have not exercised in a long time or you have a condition which might require you to seek safer types of exercise.  An example might be that if you have already broken a bone due to Osteoporosis low-impact weight-bearing exercises will be more suitable for you than high-impact exercise.  In the end, it’s important to remember that it’s never too late to improve our bone health even if we start with baby steps!  Today is the best day to start giving back to your health!