It costs New Zealanders more years of life than breast cancer, cervical cancer, Parkinson’s disease or HIV/AIDS. Yet despite being one of the most common and debilitating diseases in the country, osteoporosis is also one of the most preventable.

This year about 80,000 New Zealanders will break bones because of osteoporosis; that equates to a fracture every six minutes, including a hip fracture every two hours.

BUILD BONE MASS
Osteoporosis is a loss of bone density and strength that causes bones to become brittle and break more easily.

Though thinner bones are only to be expected as we age, the foundations of bone health are laid down in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Increasing your bone ‘mass’ from an early age delays the onset of osteoporosis later in life and can reduce its effects.

EXERCISE
Exercise, particularly weight-bearing resistance training, has long been known to build denser, stronger bones. In a recent American study, young girls who did regular jumping exercises were found to gain a 5% increase in bone mineral density: an advantage in bone mineral accrual equivalent to 3–5 years’ post-menopausal bone loss. Similarly, other studies have shown athletes to have a higher bone mineral density than non-athletes, while astronauts under weightless conditions have been shown to lose up to 1% of bone every week.
So, one of the first things you can do to prevent osteoporosis is exercise more. But nutrition plays a large role, too.

CALCIUM INTAKE
Calcium is the main component of bone, so consuming enough of it is crucial to warding off osteoporosis. Low calcium intakes are associated with low bone mass, rapid bone loss, and high fracture rates. Yet many of us don’t eat enough calcium.

According to Osteoporosis New Zealand, good sources of calcium include:

• Low-fat dairy products (milk, yoghurt, cheese)
• Dark green, leafy vegetables (broccoli, collard greens, bok choy, spinach)
• Sardines and salmon with bones
• Tofu
• Almonds
• Foods fortified with calcium (some types of orange juice, cereals and breads).

VITAMIN D
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, and thus plays an important role in preventing osteoporosis.

It is made in the skin through exposure to sunlight, but studies show that vitamin D production decreases in the elderly and in people who are housebound. Vitamin D deficiency leads to bone loss, and is linked with falls and fractures in both women and older men – all major determinants of osteoporosis.

If you’re deficient in vitamin D or at risk of osteoporosis, spending 15 minutes a day in the sun (outside peak burn times) will help. You can also speak to your doctor about treatments available.

RISK FACTORS
Watching your diet and exercise should begin from an early age, with the aim of reaching peak bone mass by your 20s. After that, bones gradually lose their strength, meaning the higher your bone mass at its ‘peak’, the lesser the risk of osteoporotic fractures due to natural age-related loss of bone mass.
But there are other factors that could contribute to osteoporosis, too.

These include:
Genetics – a family history of fractures.
Hormones – osteoporosis is three times more common in women than men, partly due to the lack of oestrogen in the body after menopause.
Thyroid conditions – some of which increase the rate of bone turnover.
Smoking – the longer you smoke the more bone density you lose.

ARE YOU AT RISK?
If you think you’re at risk of osteoporosis, you can ask your GP about having a bone density scan. This is a form of X-ray available in some centres that will give you an indication of your bone density and may predict your risk of subsequent fracture. Often you don’t know you have osteoporosis until you break a bone.

A report prepared for Osteoporosis New Zealand in 2007 (The Burden of Osteoporosis in New Zealand: 2007-2020) recommended these scans be funded for women over 50 who have experienced a low trauma fracture.

But according to Osteoporosis New Zealand, access to bone scans and funding is still haphazard and inequitably allocated. Executive director Julia Gallagher says with the human and monetary cost of this largely preventable disease, New Zealanders should be demanding a government review of the situation: “Why should Kiwis have to pay up to $150 for a diagnosis before they can
get treatment?”

If you’re worried about osteoporosis, visit www.bones.org.nz and take the One Minute Test.

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