Assoc Prof Jacqueline Centre presenting at The Garvan Institute
Today I went to a wonderful seminar on Osteoporosis at the Garvan Institute – 3 hours of incredible presentations by Professors and Associate Professors who are working at the cutting edge of research on this subject which affects both men and women ratio of 1:2, and begining as early as 40 years of age in some people.
The main message for parents was to make sure your children:
get lots of physical activity – running, jumping, skipping, hopping, climbing, balancing, exposure to enough sunshine as Vitamin D helps with bone and muscle function. There is not much Vitamin D in food, and yet Vitamin D is present in nearly every tissue in the body so it is very important to maintain the levels so that calcuim can be metabolised and absorbed adequately.
get enough calcium rich food for their daily allowance – 3 servings of dairy per day
avoid fizzy drinks
make sure they do not spend hours at the computer playing ‘indoor games’ (especially when the children grow up to be teenagers and spend many daytime hours indoors or sleeping. Smoking and alcohol intake does not help either!)
And for us, the parents:
adequate weight bearing exercise – gravity is your friend (strolling with the bub in the pram is not enough – the bones need and like resistance!)
adequate calcium intake and vitamin D: visit osteoporosisaustralia.org.au and link to osteolink for recipe ideas (from December 1st 2011),again get adequate sunshine. My friend Liz Noble in the US says to buy and eat all the greens in the supermarket that are lesser known – like kale for example. There are many options for those who don’t eat or drink dairy.
minimal alcohol, no smoking, no fizzy drinks
prevent obesity, as vitamin D gets trapped in fat cells and can’t be used properly by the body for bone integrity. Being too skinny isn’t ideal either
And for the grandparents:
discuss HRT, testing, fracture risk, lifestyle, other medications, supplements etc with your GP
adequate calcium (supplements if necessary) and Vitamin D for appropriate for age – check with GP and pharmacist
lifestyle – the right sort of exercise, decrease alcohol, no smoking, decrease salt, no colas or fizzy drinks, adequate protein (but not too much) - check website activehealth..nsw.gov.au for local suitable exercise groups (again, a stroll around the block is not enough). Do 10-20 jumps per day (contract your pelvic floor!)
falls prevention education – google this topic for local venues
seek medical therapies to help, start with your GP
empower self with information, awareness, seminars, newsletters, action, visit www.osteoporosisaustralia.com.au; ring 1800 hotline to talk to a health professional about osteoporosis, talk to your GP, and pharmacist. Check with podiatrist about foot and ankle function as well as corns and calloses for safe exercising, check with physio about balance issues.
*the main message from today’s seminar was ‘the patient is at the top of the osteoporosis management pyramid, and the health professional remains at the bottom’. Get up! Get involved. Get informed! And try to prevent or at least manage well this condition that already, as I type this text, affects millions of Australians.
GRAVITY IS OUR FRIEND, RESISTANCE EXERCISE HELPS EVEN MORE! BONES ARE LIVING ENTITIES. Growth and regrowth is going on all the time. OUR WHOLE SKELETON IS COMPLETELY RENEWED EVERY TEN YEARS.
Think seriously about the bone health of you and your family throughout life. How about 10-20 jumps right now? How about everytime the commercials come on TV encourage everyone in the room to get up and stomp for 3 minutes. I’m going to be doing it over at my house, and as soon as I publish this post I am going to do 20 jumps!
