Dairy intake for adequate calcium levels in the management of Osteoporosis Sidak Singh

The bones are made up of two minerals, including calcium. Calcium is critical in order to maintain the level of bone mass to support structures of the body. If calcium is truncated in other regions of the body then it will be released from the bones into the bloodstream sending it to the appropriate destination. Bones begin to weaken if an insufficient amount of calcium is not consumed. The body will discontinue absorbing calcium if an abundant amount of calcium is consumed, in which vitamin D aids this process.

Milk and dairy foods contain calcium which is The most common mineral in the body; calcium is needed for functions including helping blood to clot, and to build bones and teeth. Milk and dairy foods are high in protein which is essential to grow and build muscle. It is also essential for repairing and healing and repelling illnesses and fighting infections. Everything from our hair, muscles, nerves, skin and nails needs protein to build and repair itself.

As generally stated in the introduction, osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder that involves the strength and integrity of one’s bones. The WHO defines osteoporosis as, “a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low-bone mass, deterioration of bone tissue, increased bone fragility, and its susceptibly to recurrent fractures.” 2 The most important factor to take into account when addressing osteoporosis is the mass of bone, also referred to as, bone mineral density (BMD). As bone mass begins to decline, typically in the older population, specifically postmenopausal women, individuals are at an increased risk for fractures.3 As a result of this serious condition, many people are affected by morbidity, mortality, and economic difficulty.1

Osteoporosis is a disease in which bone tissue is normally mineralized but the mass of bone is decreased and structural integrity of trabecular bone is impaired. Cortical bone becomes more porous and thinner, making bone weaker and prone to fractures. The World Health Organization (WHO)(1994) has defines postmenopausal osteoporosis abased on the bone density. Bone density is based on the number of standard deviations away from the mean bone mineral density of a young adult reference population, a T-score. Normal bone mass density is 0 to -.99 standard deviations, low bone density (osteopenia) is -1.0 to -2.49 standard deviations, osteoporosis is labeled as less than or equal to 2.5 standard deviations, and severe osteoporosis is less than or equal to 2.5 standard deviations and included a bone fracture.

The older population are more at risk of osteoporosis because bones naturally become thinner as we got older. Post-menopausal women are particularly at risk of osteoporosis because of the decrease in the female hormone, estrogen. Those with higher salt intakes are increasing the amount of bone demineralisation that takes place. Studies have also demonstrated that there is a correlation between salt intake and calcium excretion in young and adolescent girls. It has been suggested that this may result in a reduced peak bone mass, which would increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Consuming a low salt diet during adolescent years may therefore be important, to reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life.

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become weak and fragile. While reading the controversy on page 328 in our books it was interesting to me how this disease affects people more so by their gene, sex, age, and race. What also popped out to me was how later on in life we cannot make up the calcium we failed to take in our younger years. The amount of Calcium and Vitamin D we take as children affects us all the way into our older age. Of course taking Calcium and Vitamin D at any age is better than not taking any at all, but it does not stop osteoporosis it can only slow it down.

The study involved 168 women who were placed into 4 groups: a placebo group, a group that was given milk powder containing 1g of calcium, a group given calcium tablets 1g/night, and a group given calcium tablets 1g/night and exercise regimen. The group with the exercise went through 4 hours of extra weight-bearing exercise per week. Bone mineral density at the lumbar spine, 3 hip sites, and two different sites of the tibia were measured in 6-month intervals. A food record also evaluated dietary intake. By the end of the study, Prince and his colleagues found that calcium supplementation by either calcium tablets or milk powder resulted in loss of bone mineral density at the hip sites. The group that was given calcium and exercised had less bone loss at the femoral neck site than any other group. Overall, there was significant reduction in the rate of bone loss at ultra distal site of the tibia. This study showed that supplements and exercise helped promote an increase in bone mineral density in order to prevent other health risks

Osteoporosis is one of the major contributors to the overall physical and psychological manifestations of frailty associated with aging. Osteoporosis-related fractures are a common cause of the morbidity and mortality associated with aging. Approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture during their lifetime.14 Osteoporotic hip fractures are associated with a high rate of subsequent mortality and a prolonged period of months to over a year before mobility is regained.15 Predominantly, existing treatments for osteoporosis fail to harness osteoblast biology precisely because many of the molecular pathways that regulate osteoblast function remain largely unknown. Loss of bone mass is caused by high numbers of osteoclasts. Decreased production of estrogen and

One of the functions of calcium is bone and tooth formation. My low intake of calcium will affect my bone and toot formation.

Calcium is also used to maintain strong bones, increase muscle movement, provide nerve impulses, keep the blood flowing (Calcium 2013) and to control the way the heart beats (Calcium 2000). Osteoporosis can happen when the body does not get enough calcium. The extreme version of this disease is called hypocalcemia which is when the body has an extremely low intake of calcium (Calcium 2015). Osteoporosis effects ¼ of the worlds population of women over 60 years old as it is the most common metabolic bone disease (Osteoporosis 2015). This disease is most commonly found in women over 40 because of the estrogen loss during menopause (Osteoporosis 2015). There is a higher chance of getting osteoporosis if a person is thin, not active, a smoker, consumes alcohol regularly or has a low calcium intake (Osteoporosis 2015). The honeycombed matrixes in bones cause them to become thinner and easier to fracture. To prevent osteoporosis a person must have good nutrition, a high intake of calcium and vitamin D and participate regularly in physical activity (Osteoporosis

So that brings us right back to my point, milk does help, Over the years, research has gone back and forth on whether milk really does help build strong bones. A recent study found that elderly men who drank a lot of milk during their teenage years actually had an increased risk for hip fractures. So what it's saying is that if you do drink too much milk when you’re a teenager or even younger then you will not do so well when you grow up and you become old. You will be in a lot of bad shape when you get older, so that’s why you do drink milk when you're younger but not too much

Osteoporosis, exactly means porous bone as show in figure(2.4),is skeletal disorder characterized by a decrease in bone mass density, and this decrease leads to structural deterioration and loss of connectivity between bone tissue, resulting in enhanced fragility and an increased risk of fracture (Bridgeman and Pathak 2011). Osteoporosis is commonly referred to as the “silent thief” as there are no noticeable symptoms associated with its progression until it manifests in the form of a fragility fracture ( Lin and Lane 2004). Although a fragility fracture can occur in any bone, fracture of the hip, spine, and wrist are particularly common in individuals with osteoporosis (ALAnazi 2014) . They have high percentages of trabecular bone, which is more vulnerable due to the higher turnover rate (Rissanen 2013) . Osteoporosis is attributable to an imbalance in bone remodeling, and thus, the understanding of the cellular events is important to target the treatment( Tamminen

In summary, the impacts of osteoporosis on society includes health, economic burden and mortality. In order to reduce these impacts , all possible prevention strategies should be taken thus reducing the fracture occurrence. For those who have a high risk of fracture should be identified and treated if diagnosed with low bone

Calcium and vitamin D: Osteoporosis can be caused by lack of calcium and vitamin D intake

As an individual gets older, there are many changes that take place throughout the entire body. One of the largest changes takes place in the musculoskeletal system to the bones, joints, and muscles. The number one change that happens, but cannot seem to be prevented in anyway, is the gradual loss of calcium in the bones that causes them to