How much Calcium do we need ?

Calcium is vital for good bone health. It is one of two nutrients singled out by the Federal Government as constituting a sufficiently severe deficiency to warrant national attention. Let's look at some numbers: 30% of 1-5 year olds do not get enough calcium. 70% of teen boys and 90% of teen girls fall short of calcium recommendations. 90% of bone mass is established by age 17. Reduced milk consumption during critical bone building yrs is putting kids at risk for osteoporosis.

The average adult needs about 1000mg of Calcium and 200IU of Vitamin D per day.
One cup of fortified milk provides 302mg of Calcium and 50IU of Vitamin D.

Bone Density and Bone Quality

“Osteoporosis is defined as a skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone strength predisposing to an increased risk of fracture.”
This definition was created at the NIH Conference on Osteoporosis in 2000.
Bone strength is really a combination of bone density and bone quality. Bone quality encompasses a variety of elements as listed below.

Bone strength = bone density + bone quality

Bone quality: architecture, turnover, damage accumulation, and mineralization

We currently measure bone density by a DXA scan. Bone quality is more difficuly to quantify. Current research is looking at MRI and CT technology to gain more information as regards bone quality. More to follow...............

I just saw this posting on healthdigest.com

Osteoporosis, the gradual loss of bone density, is far more common among women, but it is a growing health problem for millions of men as well, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

This gradual loss of bone density increases the risk of serious injuries, such as hip fractures. Although nine times more women than men in the U.S. (18 million vs. 2 million) have the condition, there is a growing awareness that osteoporosis poses a serious health problem for men as well.

Tom Weber, M.D., in Duke's division of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition, said that recent research into comparative mortality rates shows that men and women both face serious risks from osteoporotic fractures.

"In some ways it's more serious for men," Weber explained. "Several recent studies have shown that men are at higher risk for death following a hip fracture. That risk may be as high as 40 percent within the first year after fracture, when it's on the order of 20 percent for women."

Weber said research has not been able to explain conclusively why this disparity in mortality rates exists between the genders.

"Part of it has to do with the fact that men have other diseases, often more serious diseases, when they fracture than women do," he said. "Some studies have shown this to be the case, but others haven't. So it's unclear why there's a higher mortality rate among men."

According to Weber, men have several established risk factors for developing osteoporosis.

"Family history appears to be very important," he said. "A family history of hip fracture in the mother increases a man's risk for vertebral fractures. If you take glucocorticords, prednisone for example, for a variety of conditions, your risk goes up. In addition, men with low testosterone levels, either as a result of a pathologic process or as a result of medications, are at higher risk. So are men who smoke and who drink excessive amounts of alcohol."

As for prevention, Weber says building bone strength through exercise and diet, with supplements if needed, is important for everyone.

"The recommendation for both men and women up to age 50 is 1,000 milligrams a day of calcium and 400 international units a day of Vitamin D," Weber said. "After age 50, these recommendations are increased to 1,500 milligrams of calcium and 800 international units of Vitamin D."

Many physicians now recommend bone density testing for men aged 70 and over, to help determine their risk for osteoporotic fracture.

"Two million men in this country have osteoporosis," said Weber. "The risk of hip fracture in men will increase by 300 percent by 2050, more so than the increase that will occur in women. This sort of information is educating both the medical community and the lay public as to the importance of identifying and treating men with osteoporosis."

The Surgeon General Report

Please take a look at the latest Surgeon General Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis. Click on www.surgeongeneral.gov for more information.

What is Osteoporosis ?

Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans. In the U.S. today, 10 million individuals are estimated to already have the disease and almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis.
Of the 10 million Americans estimated to have osteoporosis, eight million are women and 2 million are men. 34 million Americans, or 55% of the people 50 years of age and older, have low bone mass, which puts them at increased risk of developing osteoporosis and related fractures. Significant risk has been reported in people of all ethnic backgrounds. While osteoporosis is often thought of as an older person's disease, it can strike at any age. Eighty percent of those affected by osteoporosis are women. Five percent of non-Hispanic black women over age 50 are estimated to have osteoporosis; an estimated additional 35 percent have low bone mass that puts them at risk of developing osteoporosis. Ten percent of Hispanic women age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis, and 49 percent are estimated to have low bone mass. Twenty percent of non-Hispanic white and Asian women age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis, and 52 percent are estimated to have low bone mass.
Twenty percent of those affected by osteoporosis are men. Seven percent of non-Hispanic white and Asian men age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis and 35 percent are estimated to have low bone mass. Four percent of non-Hispanic black men age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis and 19 percent are estimated to have low bone mass. Three percent of Hispanic men age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis and 23 percent are estimated to have low bone mass.
One in two women and one in four men over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.
Osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures annually, including:
300,000 hip fractures; and approximately
700,000 vertebral fractures,
250,000 wrist fractures; and
300,000 fractures at other sites.
The estimated national direct expenditures (hospitals and nursing homes) for osteoporotic and associated fractures was $17 billion in 2001 ($47 million each day) - and the cost is rising.
According to the American Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), physicians need to discuss the significance of fractures with their patients, and the role they play in fractures later in life.

An AAOS press release, dated October 16th 2002 stated: “People who have a fracture in the past, need to have routine tests to check bone density status as well as blood tests to check for underlying conditions. Orthopaedic surgeons should view fractures as an early warning signal to a more serious condition such as a hip or vertebral fracture when dealing with older patients.”

Orthopaedic surgeons treat nearly all fractures and thus are uniquely positioned to intervene with these high risk patients, but studies show that only 3% of patients presenting with a forearm fracture had a bone density test, and only 20% were treated for Osteoporosis. (Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Anaheim, Ca, Feb.6th,1999).