You can take action to minimise your risk of developing osteoporosis and fracture by ensuring:

1. Adequate calcium
2. Adequate Vitamin D
3. Adequate Exercise

What Lifestyle Changes Should I be Making?

• Increasing your calcium intake through your daily diet plus supplements
• Increasing the amount of exercise every day
• Be conscious of your posture and work on trying to stand as erect as possible with a strong ‘core’.
• Stopping smoking • Increase your alkalized water intake
• Decreasing your alcohol intake
• Increasing your exposure to limited sunlight to increase vitamin D and add some supplementation for Vitamin D
• Learn some falls prevention strategies
• Your doctor might also change or reduce some of your medications, as they may be a cause of osteoporosis.

So What Sort of Exercise Should I be Doing?

This is the most important thing that you can be doing to help your bone density. Try to include some weight bearing exercise into your day, every day. It might mean that you walk more or get up and down from your chair more. If you are a lot fitter than that, you can do some squatting with light weights. If your arms are strong, add some light dumbbells into your hands when doing the arm exercises on the chair. Whatever you decide to do, you have to start to make a conscious effort to be consistent.

Do what exercises you are capable of from The Actively Ageing Kit, under the guidance of your Physiotherapist or your doctor. Check out the video of the TV & Kettle Exercises (on the website) as they are great to do for improving bone density and you don’t have to leave your living room!

Your bones were meant to bear weight so give them what they need to stay strong.

They are constantly responding to forces by remodelling so make them work!

Osteoporosis is most often diagnosed by a bone density test ( Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry; DXA). It is a short, painless scan that measures the density (strength) of your bones, usually at the hip and spine. The result from this test is called a T-score.

Your doctor will initially assess your risk factors for osteoporosis, which include your age, medical history and lifestyle factors, before referring you for a test.

A bone density test will give you a T-score. The result will be given to you in the range of:

1. Normal
2. Osteopenia (low bone density)
3. Osteoporosis

1. If the test shows normal You have normal bone density. Exercise, adequate calcium intake and vitamin D are all important factors for maintaining bone health.
2. If the test shows Osteopenia (low bone density) Your doctor may recommend lifestyle changes to reduce risk factors that can affect bone health. Your doctor will also recommend a follow-up test in 1-2 years to monitor your bone density.
3. If the test shows Osteoporosis This means your bone density is low and at risk of fracture. Your doctor will probably recommend you start drug treatment (calcium) to stop further bone loss and prevent fractures. Health factors, including nutritional advice, exercise and falls prevention strategies will also be discussed and a follow-up test should be conducted at a suitable interval to monitor your bone density and the effectiveness of the treatment.

Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones become fragile and brittle. It is a progressive disease resulting in the reduction of total bone mass and increased fragility. These changes in bone can result in spontaneous and low impact fractures of load-bearing bones including hip and vertebrae. These fractures can contribute significantly to the physical and mental deterioration of the afflicted individual. Bone is perpetually remodelling and it is when this remodelling process becomes unbalanced in a way that leads to a reduction in bone density, that Osteoporosis occurs.

Osteoporosis occurs when bones lose minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, more quickly than the body can replace them, leading to a loss of bone thickness (bone mass or density). As a result, bones become thinner and less dense, so that even a minor bump or accident can cause serious fractures. These are known as fragility or minimal trauma fractures. Any bone can be affected by osteoporosis, but the most common sites are bones in the hip, spine, wrist, ribs, pelvis and upper arm. Osteoporosis usually has no signs or symptoms until a fracture occurs. This is why osteoporosis is often called the 'silent disease'