For 69-year-old Lillian McKenna, osteoporosis is more than a pain in the neck–it’s also a pain in the back.
Her brittle spine, fractured in two places, hurts so much she spends half the night in her bed and the other half in an armchair.
The bone-thinning disorder sounded its alarm four years ago when McKenna started waking up with a backache. A doctor diagnosed osteoporosis, a disease McKenna had never heard of.
Now she can’t forget it. Unable to do heavy lifting, she had to quit her job cleaning offices. She straps a plastic brace around her waist to keep her back straight. She’s in so much discomfort she takes a pain pill every four to six hours.
McKenna, who rarely drank milk or ate green vegetables as a child, advises young women: Eat calcium-rich foods–now–and intervene early to prevent the illness.
Osteoporosis–brittle bone disease–is a weakening and thinning of the bone that strikes up to 8 million American women; another 13 million have bone loss, said the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Bone deterioration may occur without symptoms.
Experts urge young women to take preventive steps through diet and exercise. If they get the illness, there are new drugs.
The disease is most common after menopause–usually between 45 and 55. Women begin losing bone tissue after about 30, and loss accelerates after menopause because they are producing less estrogen, a hormone that keeps bones strong.
Women also at risk have a family history of the illness, a small frame, a diet low in calcium, a sedentary lifestyle and an abnormal absence of menstrual periods.
The disease costs $10 billion annually, mostly to treat hip, wrist and spine fractures. Half of all American women over age 50 will get an osteoporosis-related fracture, the Osteoporosis Foundation reports. There is no cure yet, but new treatments promise to stop bone loss and in some cases restore bone growth.
Some doctors are excited about the latest drug to hit the market, Fosamax, a hormone-free drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October.
Estrogen hormone replacement therapy has been a common treatment for osteoporosis; a study cited in Consumer Reports on Health says the drug reduces spine and wrist fractures by up to 50 percent and hip fractures by 25 percent.
But some are afraid to take estrogen, which has been linked to uterine cancer. Some dislike its side effects such as breast tenderness and resumption of periods.
Studies of Fosamax, conducted in the last three years on 1,827 women between 41 and 85 showed bone strength increased and fractures decreased. The study showed the drug increased bone mineral density at the spine by 8 percent and at the hip by 7 percent. Women who took it suffered fewer spine fractures than those on a placebo.
Side effects are generally mild and subside. The drug in pill form should be taken with a full glass of water 30 minutes before eating. Merck & Co., which is marketing the drug, estimates the cost at $50 to $55 a month.
The hormonal drug salmon calcitonin has been available for years by injection and was approved last summer by the FDA as a nasal spray for patients afraid of needles.
But experts agree that building strong bones before age 30, when bones generally stop growing, is the best strategy. Getting children hooked on calcium-rich foods and encouraging them to exercise regularly will pay off in their later years.
The National Institutes of Health says children between ages 1 and 10 should consume 800 to 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day. The recommended daily allowance for children and young adults between 11 and 24 is 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams, the equivalent of about two 8-ounce glasses of skim milk, 1 1/2 ounces of cheddar cheese and a container of yogurt. But few realize kale, turnip greens and broccoli are also high in calcium.
Even some fast foods are helpful. A chili cheese burrito has 300 milligrams of calcium, just a bit more than a McDonald’s Big Mac, which has 200 milligrams, said the National Dairy Council.
Experts recommend exercise, but don’t overdo it. Too much exercise could lead to osteoporosis. Marathon runners who exercise so vigorously that they become amenorrheic–they stop having their periods–sometimes get the disease.
A calcium-fortified diet is beneficial for adults too. The National Institutes of Health recommends premenopausal women take 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day, the amount contained in about three glasses of skim milk. The recommended daily allowance for postmenopausal women is 1,500 milligrams. But studies have shown excessive amounts of protein drive calcium into the urine and out of your body.
Taking adequate amounts of Vitamin D, which improves calcium absorption, also helps combat the disease. The Recommended Dietary Allowances of Vitamin D for adults is 200 I.U. a day.
Large amounts of caffeine daily leach calcium from the body. Smoking also can lower estrogen levels.
