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10
Dec
Dec
HEALTHY
What Is Healthy Bone Mass?
Bone batch is measured against a standard average cram mass of a healthy young adult.Image Credit:
Reading: What Is Healthy Bone Mass?
AleksandarGeorgiev/E+/GettyImages hard bones are crucial for good health and aging well. Maintaining a healthy cram mass percentage helps prevent osteoporosis and break bones. While childhood is the most authoritative time for building cram health, it ‘s never besides late to take care of your bones .
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Bone mass is measured against a standard average bone mass of a healthy young adult. The far you are below that number, the lower your cram mass .
What Is Bone Mass?
Like all living tissues in your body, your bones are constantly changing. Old bone is broken down and new bone is constructed in a process called bone recast. Bone aggregate, besides sometimes called bone concentration, is a measurement of the sum of bone tissue in the skeleton at any given fourth dimension. This changes throughout your life and depends on many factors, including your age, sex, diet and health .
ad childhood and adolescence is the period of greatest bone density. During this prison term, the body builds more cram than it breaks down ; the size of the skeletal system grows, and the bones become dense. Bones can keep growing throughout a person ‘s 20s. At this time, the bones have reached their potential for force and density .
From 30 forth, bone calm rebuilds itself ; however, the pace of bone breakdown may exceed the formation of new bone. The bigger the deviation between breakdown and buildup, the lower your bone mass or density becomes .
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Measuring Bone Mass
It ‘s not possible to see or feel if your bone bulk is decreasing. Doctors can use a bone mineral concentration trial to measure the measure of the minerals calcium and phosphorous that your bone contains. This gives them an accurate video of your bone batch and bone health .
A central dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, or cardinal DXA, test is the most normally performed type of bone concentration test, according to the National Institutes of Health. The DXA test measures bone concentration at the hip and lower spine. Just like having an x-ray, the routine is painless.
ad The results of your bone density examination are compared to an average bone mineral concentration of a healthy young adult, after which you will be given a score, called a T score. A T score of zero means you have ideal bone mass, according to the NIH. A score below -2.5 indicates very low bone mass and a circumstance called osteoporosis .
A cram mineral concentration screen can tell you entirely your current bone bulk ; it ca n’t show whether you are presently losing bone or build up bone. In order to measure bone passing, you need to take two tests spaced about two months apart, according to the New York State Department of Health .
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white and asian women have the highest rates of osteoporosis, with an estimated 20 percentage over the age of 50 developing the condition, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. More than half of white and asian women have low cram mass .
Rates of osteoporosis and broken bone mass are lower in african American and Latina women. Five percentage of african american english women over senesce 50 have osteoporosis and another 35 percentage have low bone mass. Ten percentage of Latina women have osteoporosis and half of all Latinas have low cram mass .
Low Bone Mass and Osteoporosis
If your test reveals that you have low bone mass, that does n’t mean you will automatically develop osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become flimsy and respite easily. however, low cram mass, called osteopenia, increases your risk for osteoporosis. Causes of depleted bone mass include :
- Hereditary factors
- Low body weight
- A medical condition or medication affecting bone mass
If you have gloomy bone bulk, goodly habits can help you slow bone personnel casualty and prevent osteoporosis. Eating foods rich in the mineral calcium and vitamin D and doing weight yield drill, such as walk, ramble on and lifting weights, can help strengthen your bones. In some cases, your doctor may recommend medication to prevent far bone personnel casualty and osteoporosis .
osteoporosis affects approximately 10 million Americans, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation ; about 80 percentage of these are women. In 50 percentage of women over senesce 50, osteoporosis will cause a break bone. Women are more prone to osteoporosis because their bones are smaller and thin. additionally, levels of the female hormone estrogen, which helps protect bones, declines sharply after menopause .
If your repair diagnoses you with osteoporosis, the same healthy habits that help with depleted bone mass can help your condition. however, healthy habits entirely are n’t adequate ; your sophisticate will besides likely recommend medication that can slow and even reverse bone loss .
Read more: Yoga Poses to Avoid With osteoporosis
Preventing Low Bone Mass
The most important time for build strong bones is in childhood and adolescence. Eating a poise diet including enough of calcium and vitamin D and getting batch of forcible activeness early in biography contributes to the formation of potent, healthy bones. The stronger bones start out, the lower the risk of low bone aggregate and osteoporosis late in life .
But even in adulthood, you can take steps to maintain healthy bone mass as you get older :
Read more: How To Enjoy Eating Healthy
- Eat a nutrient-rich diet, including plenty of vegetables and fruits.
- Eat foods rich in calcium, including dairy, sardines, kale, tofu and fortified orange juice and cereal. Adult males between the ages of 19 and 70 and women ages 19 to 51 need 1,000 milligrams a day; women ages 51 to 70 need 1,200 milligrams daily.
- Take a calcium supplement if you can’t get enough from your diet.
- Get plenty of vitamin D from foods such as swordfish, salmon, egg yolks, fortified dairy products, orange juice and cereal. All adults ages 19 to 70 need 600 IU of vitamin D each day.
- Take a vitamin D supplement if necessary.
- Engage in physical activity every day.
- Don’t smoke, as smoking can weaken your bones.
- Limit your alcohol intake.
Tip
Lactose intolerance has been implicated as a factor in low bone mass and osteoporosis, since dairy is such a rich source of calcium. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 90 percentage of asian American adults, 70 percentage of african Americans and 15 percentage of Caucasians are lactose-intolerant. If you are lactose-intolerant, ask your doctor of the church about taking auxiliary calcium to make sure you get everything you need .
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