Osteoporosis is a potentially crippling disease characterized by the loss of bone tissue and susceptibility to fracture. The disease afflicts 25 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women. Osteoporosis does not produce symptoms until a fracture occurs. A woman’s risk of a hip fracture equals her combined risk of developing breast, uterine or ovarian cancer.
Are you at risk ?
Your chances of developing osteoporosis are greater if you are female and...
You are:
- Light skinned
- Thin or small framed
- Approaching or past menopause
- Milk intolerant or have a low calcium intake
- A cigarette smoker or you drink alcohol in excess
- Taking thyroid medication or steroidbased drugs for asthma, arthritis or cancer; this includes individuals suffering from
- hyper-thyroidism and hyper-parathyroidism.
- Or you have or had:
- family history of osteoporosis
- Early, natural or surgical menopause (i.e., hysterectomy)
- Long-term steroid use (for conditions such as asthma and arthritis)
- Chronic intestinal disorder (i.e., malabsorption syndrome, post-gastrectomy)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sedentary lifestyle.