6 Ways to Keep Bones Healthy and Strong Even as You Get Old All

KOMPAS.com – As we age, we lose bone mass or density.

This happens because the bones lose calcium and other minerals.

Increasing age also makes the midsection (stem) shorter as the disc gradually loses fluid and becomes thinner.

This of course can put us at great risk of fractures.

Also read: Hair Grows In

Tips to keep bones healthy and strong

However, there are some things we can do to keep our bones healthy and strong. Here are tips to keep bones healthy and strong:

1. Strengthen your bones with food

Calcium and vitamin D help strengthen and protect bones. Therefore, you should eat foods rich in these nutrients to maintain your bone health.

Instead, get enough calcium and vitamin D from food, not from supplements.

For calcium, you are advised to consume at least 1,000 and 1,200 milligrams per day.

In healthy people, the amount of vitamin D needed per day varies with age.

2. Do weight-bearing exercises

Weight-bearing training doesn’t mean you have to do weightlifting.

All you need to do is do activities heal strikewhich is using the body as a weight by placing your feet on the floor and sending a mechanical stimulus through the skeleton.

“Heel-strike activities such as walking will stimulate new bone formation,” says Deal.

3. Avoid smoking

It’s no secret that smoking is bad for health.

Smoking is toxic to your cells and lowers your estrogen levels. Lower levels of estrogen can also make bones brittle.

Also read: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

4. Do a bone density test (DXA)

The DXA bone density test is an imaging test that measures your bone density. Women should have a DXA test starting at the age of 65 years, while men should have a DXA test starting at the age of 70 years.

“If you have clinical risk factors for bone loss or fracture, you may need DXA early,” says Deal.

These risk factors include:

• Family history.
• Low weight.
• previous fracture.

5. Take medicine, if necessary

If you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, certain medications can slow bone loss.

And if you are at high risk for developing the condition, antiresorptive and anabolic medications are especially important.

Antiresorptive drugs help stop the body from reabsorbing bone tissue whereas anabolic drugs help build bone in people with osteoporosis.

However, the drug must be taken according to a doctor’s prescription.

6. Pay attention to other health problems

Get the treatment you need for thyroid disorders, parathyroid disorders, premature menopause or other health conditions that affect your bone density.

Get updates news of choice and breaking news every day from Kompas.com. Let’s join the Telegram group “Kompas.com News Update”, how to click the link https://t.me/kompascomupdate, then join. You must first install the Telegram application on your cellphone.–