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Osteoporosis

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Currently in my family my mother and my grandmother both have osteoporosis. “Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by a decrease in the density of bone, decreasing its strength and resulting in fragile bones” ("Osteoporosis", 2012). Osteoporosis can cause bones to break very easily. All it takes is the slightest accident and you can end up with a fracture or a complete break. The spine, hips, ribs and wrists are the most common bones broken because of this disorder. All of these most often are a result in a fall, but can happen at any point during a slight trauma. Currently there is about 55% of the population over the age of 50 that have osteoporosis or osteopenia. ("Osteoporosis", 2012) “One in two Caucasian women will fracture a bone due to osteoporosis in her lifetime”. ("Osteoporosis", 2012) Lack of exercise, poor nutrition and poor general health, family history of osteoporosis, thin and small body frame, smoking and drinking are just some of the risk factors for osteoporosis. I currently have all of those risks against me. There are four of the above risks that I can change on my own in order to prevent getting osteoporosis myself. Lack of exercise, poor nutrition, smoking and drinking are the four that I can change. The four goals that I have chosen are to stop smoking, stop drinking, to eat healthier than I have been, and to exercise more. The first goal I intend to take on is to stop smoking. Currently, I am taking a prescribed medication in order to quit smoking. I was not aware that smoking makes you more at risk for osteoporosis. So other than wanting to quit in order to be healthier, I am more motivated to quit because I do not want osteoporosis when I get older. I smoke more when I drink, so that will be challenging. Second, I am going to stop drinking. Along with smoking I was not aware that drinking alcohol could cause osteoporosis. I knew that it was not healthy for you but did not know it would make your bones more fragile. I do not drink a lot, maybe two or three times a month and only one or two drinks a time. But it is enough to make me want more cigarettes which are a double hit on my risk, so it needs to stop. I have already started to turn away drinks while I am at our friends’ houses and I am planning on throwing away all the alcohol in my house. Drinking also tends to curve my appetite and I do not eat like I should. My third goal is to start eating healthier. I know that I am eating better now that I was at the beginning of the class, but there is room for improvement. Currently, I make menus for dinner and stick to them, but breakfast and lunch are left to what we happen to have or whether or not I feel like making anything. I plan to get specific things for my lunch at work and make myself put a lunch together before I go to bed for the next day at work. Another thing that plays a big factor into getting osteoporosis is not getting enough Vitamin D in my diet. Vitamin D plays a big role in how strong your bones are. Good nutrition is the best and easiest way to get the Vitamin D that your body needs, but not always accessible in food. Milk being the most popular form of Vitamin D there is in order to get Vitamin D. There is also orange juice and some of the cereals that are good sources of Vitamin D. A women’s daily intake of calcium should not exceed 2000 mg a day but should be at least 1500. Milk has 300mg in an eight ounce cup. ("About Osteoporosis", n.d.) But another way to get Vitamin D is to just get outside in the sun and exercise more. My fourth goal is start exercising more. The sun coming out makes this the best time to start getting outside and being active. I made this my fourth goal because once I have completed my three other goals it will be easier for me to complete this goal. Exercising will not only make me healthier but it will give me the Vitamin D from the sun that I do not get from my meals. There are four different types of exercises that can be done for someone with or without the risk of getting osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercises, muscle-strengthing exercises, non-impact exercises and non-weight-bearing, non-impact exercises. Because at the moment I do not have osteoporosis I am going to start with high-impact weight-bearing exercises. Jogging and hiking alone with dancing are a few of my favorite things to do. Golf is also an exercise that is on my to-do list. I would like to start doing these within the next two weeks. Weather permitting I can, but in case it does not clear up I have a treadmill and can at least start that way. With all of these goals there are going to be things that will set me back. I have been smoking for 10 years now and at this point it has become a habit for me. Drinking is something that we do when we go out with friends or over to their houses, so when they are drinking it will be difficult to turn it down. I need to have the will power in order to do both of these things. Making a lunch requires me to get over being lazy and to make myself stand in the kitchen to make a meal. This is will be a little bit easier as long as I remember I may get osteoporosis if I do not start eating healthy. Exercising is the same, I am so tired after work that I just want to lay around and do nothing. But as I mentioned before with the sun coming out more and more this will be easier for me to do. In order to ensure that I am keeping up with my goals I am going to make a chart to keep track of when I follow them. I am hoping to be consistently following them by the end of April. If my chart is marked as it should be then I will know that the goals I have set for myself have been met and the plan I have made is a success. Of course I will need to keep up with them even after that, but I believe that the first month will be the most difficult for me especially with smoking. I know that if I do not keep up with these things I have the potential of ending up with osteoporosis later on in life. The older I get the more I will have to add in Vitamin D supplements and change the exercises in order to meet the requirements I need.

Osteoporosis. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/osteoporosis/article.htm
About Osteoporosis. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nof.org/aboutosteoporosis

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