Sunday, 30 March 2014

Neglected Health and Osteoporosis


By Aastha Kapoor
Mothers keep running after their kids with food plate in a hand and a glass of milk in the other. After all, healthy diet is important for the well being and growth of the child. Wives are the ones who buy low cholesterol oil for food cooking so their husbands live long and healthy. The only ones women tend to ignore are themselves. They work and run and cook and clean but still there is no special intake of vitamins or calcium that their bodies require. Such neglect in later days is a cause of diseases such as Osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis refers to the weakening of bones that tremendously raises the chance of bone fractures. In most cases, it is the women post menopause who are at maximum risk to it. It is because post menopause, the BMD (bone mineral density) in women tends to decrease as estrogens levels drop. Deficiency of calcium and Vitamin D in body further aggravates the condition. More than often, the disease goes undiagnosed until late as there are no clear symptoms-just minor ones like loss of height due to curvature of spine that are mostly ignored. The most accurate medical test available to diagnose the disease is the DEXA (Dual Energy X-Ray absorptiometry). It is painless, takes only 10 minutes and is carried out on hip/spine.
One good news is that it is possible to prevent the disease if more attention is given to some parameters. Young women can right away begin taking measures to averse the risk. The steps are simple
·         Intake of well balanced diet that includes milk, eggs,  green vegetables like spinach to maintain appropriate levels of calcium and vitamins
·          Some form of physical exercise like walking, jogging or running
·         Smoking?? No way!
·         Moderate or no drinking
So, it is not really a difficult task to prevent the disease and weakness that comes with it-all that is needed is a little more attention to our own bodies. Only when we ourselves are healthy can we take care of those who matter so much to us, isn’t it?
Source: wellbeing.com.au

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