Osteoporosis is known as “silent thief” as bone loss occurs with no apparent symptoms. The bones which are living tissues constantly break down and replace. When the creation of new bone does not keep up with the removal of old bone is when Osteoporosis begins. Body does not signal us and let us know that this is happening.

I learned from my Grandmother Orthopedic Doctor that she had severe Osteoporosis. Although she had calcium rich diet and got enough minerals and hormones were doing their job, her lack of walking and any weight bearing had aggravated the progress of this situation.

Digging deeper, I learned that Diabetes can cause muscle weakness that makes walking difficult. It is a tangled web. Muscles get weak because of Diabetes so she stops walking and by stopping walking and load bearing exercises, she starts losing bone density.

And her condition was nothing of extraordinary, I discovered. In fact it was a scientifically proven and classic textbook situation to some degree.

Since the early days of space exploration, axial mechanical loading was important for astronauts to counteract the effects of microgravity. While away from earth’s gravity, astronauts are subjected to unloaded states: their muscles, bones, tendons are not subject to resist gravity and do not need to work. Under such conditions, astronauts lose bone density at alarming rates.

In her case, lack of mechanical loading and inability to walk influenced the body’s capacity to maintain orthostatic tolerance and its ability to perform exercises. It probably caused an early reduction in blood volume and subsequent loss of red blood cell volume, resulting in limited cardiac filling. I defined an answer for myself on why she left us that day: Her cardiovascular structures had become so altered with this lack of activity that caused her cardiac atrophy.

This is my personal theory and I am no MD but I have studied enough about bone health in these months that I allow myself to make that statement.

It brings me to the eminent danger that threatens me and many women out there: losing bone density.

Even walking and doing load bearing exercise are no guarantee to reverse the condition of bones that drastically. As a woman who has breastfed two kids, I know that my body has gone through a ton of calcium loss probably at that time.

So, a little panicked I have done some research and learned some facts that I want to share with you:

Bone dynamics consist of continual tearing down and building up of bone. There is a constant information exchange in the body, along with continual bone tissue renovation that removes existing bone and deposits new bone. As adults, we replace 20% of bone tissue each year. After women pass the age of 30, bone tearing up may begin to outpace bone formation. After menopause, between the ages of 45-55, the risk of osteoporosis increases to the point that women can lose up to 5% Bone Mass Density(BMD) per year.

In a Canadian study, fractures from osteoporosis are more common than heart attack, stroke and breast cancer combined.

At least one in three women and one in five men will suffer from an osteoporotic fracture during their lifetime.

Shocking, right?! I had no idea!

I have learned that controlled load bearing that can trigger neuro-musculoskeletal system to regenerate bones at the same rate of losing bones is effective namely Osteogenic Loading.

Looking at this paper, obviously high impact exercise helps but there are certain ones that need to be avoided.

http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/suppl_4/29.full.pdf

Now my questions are: Do you know how to find a way to impose your body to high impact exercise and probably Osteogenic Loading without incurring the risk?

How do you gauge what you are doing is working?

If there is an MD reading this, what do you think of Osteogenic Loading and its effectiveness? How do you prescribe it to your patients?

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