Osteoporosis Symptoms

It’s estimated that more than three million people in the UK have osteoporosis, the disease that reduces bone density, making bones fragile and more likely to break easily (i). According to the Royal Osteoporosis Society, one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 experience broken bones, mostly as a result of low bone strength (ii). Worldwide, it’s thought that someone breaks a bone because of osteoporosis every three seconds (iii), while in the UK it’s estimated that there are 536,000 fractures every year caused by osteoporosis (iv).

The problem with osteoporosis is it can creep up on you slowly, so you may not even realise you have a problem until you suffer a bone fracture (though having osteoporosis doesn’t automatically mean you will break any bones). The other problem is awareness about osteoporosis is low, and many don’t realise that men can develop it as well as women (v).

What causes osteoporosis?

When the mesh-like structure within your bones becomes thin, the result is osteoporosis. Because the structure of your bones has become more fragile, it means you could have a fracture following a relatively minor bump or fall (the most common bones broken as a result of osteoporosis are wrist, hip and vertebrae – the bones in your spine – but you could also suffer a broken arm, rib or pelvis.

Up until the age of 16 to 18, your bones are growing, and they keep increasing in density until you’re about the age of 25. From then until the age of around 50 your bone density remains more or less the same, with equal amounts of new bone forming to bone breaking down. But after that age – and particularly after the menopause in women – bone breakdown exceeds bone formation, leading to a gradual loss of density (vi).

Are you at risk?

Age is arguably the most significant risk factor when it comes to osteoporosis. However, there are other things that could make you more susceptible, including the following:

• Having a family history of osteoporosis or hip fracture.

• Having an inflammatory condition such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) or Crohn’s disease. Discover more on the conditions related to Crohn’s disease in our article.

• Having an overactive thyroid or parathyroid gland, or another condition that affects your hormone-producing glands.

• Being a heavy drinker and/or smoker.

• Taking certain medicines in the long term, such as steroid tablets, anti-epileptic drugs and some treatments for breast or prostate cancer.

Other groups of people who may have a higher-than-average risk of developing osteoporosis include those who don’t do much or any exercise, people who have an eating disorder or who are underweight, those who have malabsorption problems (such as with coeliac disease, for example) and women who’ve had their ovaries removed.
 

How is osteoporosis diagnosed?

If you have one or more risk factors for osteoporosis, it’s a good idea to talk to your GP about it. There’s no national screening programme in the UK for osteoporosis at present, but if your GP thinks your risk is high they’ll usually refer you to a hospital for a bone density scan. Called a DEXA (or DXA) scan – short for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry – this uses low-dose X-rays to check how dense, or how strong, your bones are.

Otherwise you may be diagnosed with osteoporosis if you break a bone after having just a minor bump or fall, as this strongly suggests your bone density might be low. Some people who have broken a bone are diagnosed with osteoporosis automatically – older women aged 75 and older, for example – but others will need a bone density scan to confirm the diagnosis.

Meanwhile other types of bone density testing include DXR (digital X-ray radiogrammetry) and ultrasound scans. Both, however, aren’t as accurate at diagnosing osteoporosis as DEXA scanning, and aren’t commonly used for that reason.

Can you check your bone density at home?

 
You can’t actually test your bone density yourself, but there are a few ways to find out your risk of developing osteoporosis without speaking to a health professional first.

There are two risk calculators you can access online that are commonly used by doctors. These are called FRAX® – short for Fracture Risk Assessment Tool – and QFracture.

All you have to do is answer a few questions about your medical history, lifestyle, height and weight, and you can get an estimate of your risk immediately.

You can also use the Royal Osteoporosis Society’s online osteoporosis risk checker, which works in a similar way to the other methods but also gives you useful information as you work your way through the questionnaire.

Depending on the results of whichever risk calculator you use, you may then want to have a chat with your GP about your bone health.
 

How to keep your bones strong

While there may not be anything you can do about the bone density you inherited when you were born, there are lots of everyday things you can do to keep your bones as healthy as possible:

Eat a calcium-rich diet

The Royal Osteoporosis Society suggests that adults need 700mg of calcium each day to help keep their bones healthy (vii). That's around the amount you'd find in a pint of semi-skimmed milk. The best sources include dairy products, as the calcium in milk products is most easily absorbed by the body. Other calcium-rich foods include oily fish such as salmon, tuna, pilchards and sardines, plus sesame seeds, almonds, fortified soya milk, figs, oysters and prawns.

Get out into the sun, especially during the summer months

When your skin is exposed to the ultraviolet rays in sunlight, it produces vitamin D, a nutrient that helps your body to absorb calcium. There are some foods that contain vitamin D – including oily fish, eggs, dairy products, soya foods, fat spreads and meat – but most of the vitamin D stored in your body comes from exposure to sunlight.

If you’re fair-skinned, get out into the sunshine for just 10 or 15 minutes every day without sunscreen (or less than the time it takes your skin to start going red) between April and October. The darker your skin, the more time you’ll need in the sun for your skin to produce vitamin D. At all other times, remember to protect your skin against burning by covering up or using sun protection.

Avoid processed foods that contain a lot of salt

Eating too much salt in the diet is linked with decreased bone density because increases the amount of calcium the body loses in urine (viii). So stick to the recommended salt intake, which is 6g per day (just over a teaspoon), and swap ready meals for meals made from fresh ingredients.

Quit smoking

Nicotine over-stresses the adrenal glands, which produce bone-building hormones. Some experts also believe that smoking hinders the body's absorption of calcium, which could also weaken your bones (ix). If you need help with quitting smoking, there are products that could give you support, such as gum, lozenges and patches.

Stick to recommended alcohol guidelines

Drinking too much may also affect your bones, as heavy drinkers are thought to be more susceptible to bone loss and fractures. To stay within the official limits, stick to no more than 14 units of alcohol each week spread evenly across at least three days, and have at least one or two alcohol-free days each week. To give you an idea of alcohol units, half a pint of weak beer or lager (4 percent alcohol) contains one unit, a pint of strong lager (5 percent alcohol) or cider has three units, while two small (125ml) glasses of wine (12 percent alcohol) contain three units.

Avoid stimulants

Besides alcohol, other stimulants that may also be bad for your bones include caffeine and fizzy drinks. Some fizzy drinks contain phosphoric acid, which some experts believe affects bone strength (x). Caffeine, meanwhile, is thought to increase the amount of calcium you lose through urine for at least three hours after eating or drinking it (xi).

Maintain a healthy weight

Losing too much weight too quickly by crash dieting could increase your risk of osteoporosis, especially if you avoid eating dairy products to cut down on fat and calories. Being underweight could also affect your bone health, as it may reduce your body’s production of bone-building hormones such as oestrogen (having a low body weight may also mean your bones are smaller and finer, so as you get older you may be more likely to develop osteoporosis). Instead of trying to lose too much weight, aim to maintain a healthy weight with a body mass index of between 19 and 25. For more advice on weight loss, take a look at our helpful guide.

Osteoporosis and exercise

Exercise is an important element of osteoporosis prevention. It’s also important if you already have osteoporosis, as it can help to increase your bone strength.

Weight-bearing exercise – that is, any type of exercise where you support the weight of your own body – is the best type of activity for your bones. That’s because your bones react when you load more weight on them by becoming stronger.

Examples of weight-bearing activities include walking, skipping, running, jogging, dancing, aerobics, tennis and resistance training such as weight lifting. Even activities such as gardening, playing golf, swimming, carrying shopping and doing housework will help, not just because they keep your bones healthy but also because they may keep you fit and reduce your risk of falling and suffering a fracture.

Other exercises such as swimming and cycling aren’t weight-bearing activities, so they don’t help keep your bones strong. However, they do help to keep your fitness levels up.

Aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week (for instance, this could be 30 minutes of exercise on five days of the week). Remember, however, not to overdo it, especially if you’re not used to doing much exercise (exercising too much can also increase your risk of developing osteoporosis).

Weight-bearing exercise with impact

According to the Royal Osteoporosis Society, the most effective way to keep your bones strong through exercise is to combine weight-bearing exercise with impact and muscle strengthening exercise (xii).Weight-bearing exercise with impact involves being on your feet and adding an additional force or jolt through your skeleton.

• Low-impact activities include walking, marching and stair climbing.

• Moderate-impact activities include skipping, hopping, jogging, running, team and racket sports and Highland dancing.

• High-impact activities include star jumps, tuck jumps, track events, volleyball and basketball.

Meanwhile muscle strengthening exercise – or resistance training – includes moves such as squats, lunges, leg presses, chest presses, dead lifts and bicep curls.

Whatever exercise you do, start slowly, and build up your fitness levels gradually if you haven’t been very active lately. Always speak to your GP before starting any new exercise regime if you have a medical condition.

How to prevent falls in the home

As you get older, your risk of suffering a broken bone becomes higher. So if you’re not as young as you used to be – or you have an older friend or relative – it’s important to make your or their home as safe as possible to make falls less likely.

Here are a few simple changes you could make to prevent accidents from happening in the first place:

• Check for things that could make you or somebody else trip, such as wires from electrical appliances and other clutter. Make sure your carpets and rugs are secure with no loose edges (use anti-slip tape on rugs if you have wooden floors). Also take steps to prevent any floors from becoming slippery, and use non-slip mats next to and in the bath to prevent slipping, as well as in front of your kitchen and bathroom sinks.

• Always wear well-fitting shoes (including slippers indoors) and never walk on slippery floors in just your socks or tights. Also avoid wearing clothes that might trip you up.

• Make sure your home is well lit by using high-wattage light bulbs.

• If necessary, have special rails or grab bars installed to prevent you or somebody else falling on your stairs or in your bathroom. Ask your local authority about a home hazard assessment if you need help dealing with potential problem areas inside your home or speak to your GP about advice and support that may be available in your area.

• Go for regular eyesight and hearing tests. Not being able to see as well as you should could increase your risk of falling. Meanwhile, having some forms of hearing problems could affect your balance.

• Some medicines or combinations of medicines can cause dizziness, lightheadedness or drowsiness, all of which could cause a fall. If you think your medicines are affecting you in this way, speak to your GP about it as there may be an alternative medicine you could take instead.

• Also be aware that some medical conditions – such as Parkinson’s disease, arthritis and stroke – are common causes of falls.

Natural remedies for osteoporosis

If you're diagnosed with osteoporosis, you may need treatment in the form of prescription drugs in tablet or injection form. There are, however, several natural remedies that may strengthen your bones, which may also help reduce your risk for the disease.

Calcium

This mineral is essential for strong bones, but many people may not be getting enough of it in their diet (according to the Royal Osteoporosis Society, adults need 700mg of calcium a day(vii)). Numerous studies show the bone benefits of taking calcium (xiii) – for instance, several show that calcium supplements may help slow down bone loss in women after the menopause (i).

Vitamin D

Strong bones also need vitamin D, as it helps your body to absorb calcium (indeed, your body can’t absorb calcium without it). Again, many people may be deficient, especially older people and those who don’t get enough sunlight exposure during the summer. Studies show that taking vitamin D alongside calcium may help prevent bone loss (ii).

The recommended form of vitamin D is vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol, as it’s the natural form of vitamin D that the body makes when it’s exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D3 supplements are available in tablet form, and now you can get them in veggie-friendly drops too.

However most vitamin D3 supplements are made from the fat of lamb’s wool, which means they’re unsuitable for vegans. The good news is that vegan vitamin D3 supplements sourced from lichen are now more widely available.

Vitamin K

Studies show that vitamin K may also help prevent osteoporosis by reducing the rate of bone breakdown. For instance, in a study of postmenopausal women, bone density scans showed those taking vitamin K alongside calcium, vitamin D and magnesium lost less bone mass than those taking a placebo or those taking calcium, vitamin C and magnesium without vitamin K (xvi).

Magnesium

This may also be helpful, as magnesium may be necessary to convert vitamin D into the form that helps with calcium absorption. Indeed some experts believe that controlling optimum magnesium levels in the body may be important for maintaining bone health (xvii).

Fish Oils

Having an inflammatory condition increases your risk of osteoporosis, so there’s an argument for taking fish oils, as they are thought to have an anti-inflammatory action. There’s also some evidence that essential fatty acids – including the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils – may boost the effectiveness of calcium (xviii).

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan you can still benefit from an omega-3 supplement, thanks to the availability of products that contain the natural triglyceride (TG) form of omega-3, which is sourced from plant organisms called microalgae rather than fish oils.

Soya Isoflavones

Substances called isoflavones, such as those found in soya foods, may help prevent bone loss. For example, a study involving women aged 47 to 57 shows supplements of genistein (one type of soya isoflavone) may prevent bone loss in the back and the hip as effectively as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (xx). Eating more soya and other isoflavone-enriched foods may not have any effect on bone density, however (xxi).

Vitamin C

Collagen may be associated more with skin health, but healthy bones need it too. Unfortunately, the production of collagen slows down with age, which may lead to a reduction in bone mass. Taking a vitamin C supplement, however, may help your body to boost its collagen production and help keep your bones strong.

Osteoporosis can often go unrecognised, so this guide should help to give you more information on the symptoms, as well as how to treat it naturally. Want to find out more? Our health library has a number of helpful articles just like this.

 

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Disclaimer: The information presented by Nature's Best is for informational purposes only. It is based on scientific studies (human, animal, or in vitro), clinical experience, or traditional usage as cited in each article. The results reported may not necessarily occur in all individuals. Self-treatment is not recommended for life-threatening conditions that require medical treatment under a doctor's care. For many of the conditions discussed, treatment with prescription or over the counter medication is also available. Consult your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements or before making any changes in prescribed medications.

 

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