All the noise about osteopenia and osteoporosis is that with either you increase your risk of breaking a bone. The weaker your bones are the less stability and balance you have and you are more likely to fall. Breaking a hip bone, for example, is well documented as the beginning of the end for 25 percent of the people who do break their hip bone. The goal, then, is not to put yourself at risk by making sure your bones have some density and mass. This is anti aging medicine at its finest.
Osteopenia is treated by taking steps to keep it from progressing to osteoporosis. Most people can achieve this by changing their lifestyle. This includes changing their diet to include sources of calcium such as dairy and green vegetables. Taking a calcium and vitamin D supplement are also part of the solutions.
Exercise is also important in maintaining strong bones. Weight bearing exercises such as walking or biking and dancing are good choices. Add to that light weights or elastic bands to help the upper body.
There are also medicines to treat bone thinning but these are more commonly used when you have passed osteopenia and are in osteoporosis. Some of the medicines used for osteopenia are bisphosphonates, raloxifene and hormone replacement. The problem is the drugs carry risks so many experts say the diagnosis and drug treatment does more harm than good.
I am not sure you can prevent osteopenia, at least not completely. It all depends on your family history, if you are thin, how much calcium and vitamin D you received when you were a child and as a young adult raising children. The trick is to increase your bone density before you are 30 when the density peaks. If you are over 30 it is not too late to make lifestyle changes.
The fact is doctors do not agree on the treatment for osteopenia and for osteoporosis as well. Much of the controversy revolves around when to take the medications and where. I am very skeptical about taking medicine for osteopenia because I see it not as a disease but as a marker for the risk of osteoporosis.
Complicating the issue even more is how do you determine the degree of risk in the early stages of bone loss? I truly believe that overly enthusiastic marketing may have resulted in too aggressive treatment of younger women who probably were at relatively low risk of fracture.
Let me know what you think about this issue of bone mass and treatment and meds. Personal stories of experiences with the meds would be wonderful.
To your successful health.
Ruthan Brodsky
Comments