There isn't much evidence to show that changing the way you live can help if you already have osteoporosis. But most doctors agree that there are sensible things you can do that may help prevent osteoporosis. Here are some of those things.

A lot of research shows that women who are very thin and have small bones are more likely to get osteoporosis. Women who weigh more are less likely to get it.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Van der Voort DJ, Geusens PP, Dinant GJ.
Risk factors for osteoporosis related to their outcome: fractures.
Osteoporosis International. 2001; 12: 63-68.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

You can find out if you don't weigh enough (or weigh too much) by using our BMI calculator. Ask your doctor what your BMI score means for you. If your weight is low, ask your doctor to see a dietitian. This person can advise you about the healthiest way to put on weight.

Women who smoke tend to be thinner than women who don't smoke. They also have less of the

 

 

 

 

 

hormones
Hormones are chemicals that are made in certain parts of the body. They travel through the bloodstream and have an effect on other parts of the body. For example, the female sex hormone estrogen is made in a woman's ovaries. Estrogen has many different effects on a woman's body. It makes the breasts grow at puberty and helps control periods. It is also needed to get pregnant.

 

 

 

 

 

hormone called estrogen. And they have

 

 

 

 

 

menopause
When a woman stops having periods, it is called menopause. This usually happens around the age of 50.

 

 

 

 

 

menopause earlier than women who don't smoke. All these things make them more likely to get osteoporosis.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Medical guidelines for clinical management of post-menopausal osteoporosis
Endocrine Practice. 2003; 9: 544-564.

 

 

 

 

 

²

Smoking makes men's bones weaker too.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Hannan MT, Felson DT, Dawson-Hughes B, et al.
Risk factors for longitudinal bone loss in elderly men and women: the Framingham Osteoporosis Study.
Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 2000; 15: 710-720.

 

 

 

 

 

³

If you give up smoking, your chances of getting osteoporosis start to go down. But the risk doesn't go down much until 10 years after you give up.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Comuz J, Feskanich D, Willett W, et al.
Smoking, smoking cessation and risk of hip fracture in women.
American Journal of Medicine. 1999; 106: 311-314.

 

 

 

 

 

⁴

Getting sensible, regular exercise is good for preventing osteoporosis. Regular means about three times to four times each week. Activities like walking, jogging, running, climbing stairs, dancing, exercising on a treadmill and lifting weights are all good for building up your bones.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Osteoporosis.
July 2007. Available at http://orthoinfo.aaos.org (accessed on 8 August 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

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calcium
Calcium is an important mineral in your body. It helps to make your bones and teeth strong. It also keeps your heart, nerves, muscles and blood working properly.

 

 

 

 

 

Calcium and

 

 

 

 

 

vitamin D
Your body uses vitamin D to help make strong, healthy bones. You can get vitamin D from some foods, such as egg yolks and some dairy products. And your skin makes vitamin D when it is exposed to sunlight.

 

 

 

 

 

vitamin D are important nutrients for building up healthy bone.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Osteoporosis.
July 2007. Available at http://orthoinfo.aaos.org (accessed on 8 August 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

⁵

You can get a lot of calcium from dairy products. These include milk, yogurt and cheese. Other foods with lots of calcium are canned sardines and salmon with bones, and green leafy vegetables, like broccoli and spinach. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends you eat 1 gram of calcium a day.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Food and Drug Administration.
Daily values encourage healthy diet.
Available at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/special/foodlabel/dvs.html (accessed on 11 August 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

⁶

Vitamin D is made in your skin. But your skin needs some sunlight to do this. Vitamin D is also found in oily fish (like salmon or mackerel), milk and foods that have extra nutrients added to them, like breakfast cereals. The FDA recommends you eat 400 IU of vitamin D a day.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Food and Drug Administration.
Daily values encourage healthy diet.
Available at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/special/foodlabel/dvs.html (accessed on 11 August 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

⁶ IU is short for international units.

If you don't get enough calcium and vitamin D from the food you eat, you can take them as pills or capsules.

Having one or two alcoholic drinks a day does not seem to make your bones weaker.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Raisz LG.
Clinical practice: screening for osteoporosis.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2005; 353: 164-171.

 

 

 

 

 

⁷ But drinking a lot may increase your chances of osteoporosis. We need more research to say for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network.
Management of osteoporosis: a national clinical guideline. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network clinical guideline 71.
August 2007. Available at http://www.sign.ac.uk (accessed on 11 August 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

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