Do you know how many women will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime?
- 1 in 10 women
- 1 in 5 women
- 1 in 3 women
- 1 in 2 women
Scroll down to find out the answer. But before you do, here are a couple of hints.
Osteoporosis is the development of low bone density that can happen as we age. 80% of people who develop osteoporosis are women. In fact, women are at higher risk of fracturing a hip due to osteoporosis than they are to develop breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined.
The risk steadily grows as women age beginning around age 30, and increasing significantly after menopause due to declining estrogen.
Active women with restrictive eating habits (or a history of restrictive eating) have a higher risk starting at an even younger age. This is one reason that diet culture and fad diets can be harmful.
Osteoporosis is known as a “silent disease,” meaning that a fracture is often the first sign that it has already developed, even though osteoporosis itself was years in the making.
This long timeline might be one of the scariest things about the disease. But, in my mind, it is also an opportunity.
You can decrease your risk of developing osteoporosis (and its precursor, osteopenia) by working to improve your bone health during every decade of life.
A little biology lesson about how this works: There are two main types of cells involved with bone health. Osteoclasts break down the bone matrix as a part of normal bone health. Osteoblasts remodel the matrix in the places that it is most needed. When bone breakdown outpaces bone remodeling, we get brittle bones that don’t withstand impact.
In the early part of our lives (assuming we’ve had good health), bone is remodeled faster than it is broken down by these cells. But after age 30, osteoblasts slow down their remodeling. They slow down even more after menopause, which is why risk increases for women with age.
Our lifestyles dictate bone remodeling by telling osteoblasts where and how much to add bone. Case in point: tennis players have higher bone mineral density and bone size in their playing arm! This is just one of many studies that demonstrates that bone is remodeled based on where it is most needed.
Here are the critical components to build bone that will support you over upcoming decades of life:
- Resistance training for all muscle groups tells the osteoblasts to build all bones
- Jumping or other high impact activities tells bone where to remodel
- Calcium is an essential mineral component of the bone matrix found in dairy, leafy greens, and nuts
- Vitamin D is important in the absorption of calcium into your system, and is plentiful in fatty fish, fortified foods, and sunlight
- Avoiding excess caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco, as these factors contribute to suppressed bone formation and decreased healthy hormone levels
After all that build-up, here’s the answer you’ve been waiting for:
1 in 2 women older than 50 will experience a fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime.
I talk a lot about helping mountain athletes overcome injury and perform in the outdoors, and why we should be strength training to support these goals. That’s important, but disease prevention is truly why that matters.
Mountain athletes are doing so many things right by getting outside and staying active. But they’re often missing a critical health ingredient: resistance training.
It is devastating to see someone who has been active their whole life have their life change in an instant due to a fracture that could have been prevented.
Take care of yourselves,
Katy
P.S. I’m here if you’re ready to make the leap and learn how to strength train!
P.P.S. If you learned something from this newsletter please pass it on to someone you think might benefit from reading it.