Watch out for bones that break easily

By IBNlive.com

Wednesday May 16, 2007

Bones that break easily are typically brittle and fragile: a condition called osteoporosis that affects 24 to 25 million Indians.
While women are especially at risk after menopause, you might be too, if you are older than 30 and not getting enough calcium in your diet.
"Two out of three and three out of four people who have a hip fracture can have adverse outcomes. People don't realise that osteoporosis because more deaths in women than breast cancer," said an endocrinologist at AIIMS, Dr Nikhil Tandon.
But if your diet's sorted, you don't need to worry. You need calcium and vitamin D, which your body needs to absorb the calcium.
That means dairy products like milk and yogurt but you can even switch to fortified orange juice and green leafy vegetables don't hurt either.
Of course, calcium comes in a strip too but remember that supplements are no replacement for the real deal.
And here's some free health advice: Skip that cigarette - smoking increases your risk of osteoporosis and it's not doing your lungs any favours either.
And while you're at it, watch out for the alcohol too - a drink a day can increase the risk of osteoporosis.
But just diet control isn't enough - you have to get a workout going.
And there's no such thing as starting too early - if you can get your teenagers to work out regularly, they'll build bone mass.
So with the right diet, you're looking at the back of osteoporosis for life.