By Kelly Everson Chicago Health Examiner From examiner.com

Osteoporosis makes the bones to become weak and porous leading to reduced bone mass density. Your bones require Calcium so that they can be strong and healthy. Deficiency of Calcium in the body will lead to weak bones which in extreme conditions can lead to osteoporosis.

Calcium is made available to the bones when it is absorbed from intestines during digestion. The process of the absorption is facilitated by vitamin D.

What is Calcium and What Does it do?
Calcium is a chemical element that is found in some foods such as milk, green vegetables, cereals, cheese, and fortified orange juice. Calcium is an important nutrient for your bones. Without Calcium in your body, your bones will become brittle thus making them easy to fracture. Calcium in combination with Phosphorus accumulates on the cartilage making it to calcify. This will help in making the bones strong.

Is Osteoporosis More Common in Women?
Statistics have shown that out of 10 million Americans with osteoporosis, 80% are women. Out of two women in America who are above the age of 50, one will break a bone due to osteoporosis.

Women have thinner bones compared to men, this means their bones will likely to fracture in case of a minor accident. When a woman reach menopause the estrogen hormones decreases sharply causing the rate of bone loss to increase. In America the average menopause age is 50 years.

How Much Calcium do you Need?
The amount of Calcium you need depends with your gender and age. Women who are 50 years or younger require 1000milligrams of Calcium a day while women who are 51 years or older require 1200mg of Calcium a day to keep their bones healthy.

Men who are 71 years or older require 1200mg of Calcium a day to keep their bones healthy while men who are 70 years or younger will require 1000mg.

This shows that aged people require more Calcium to keep their bones healthy.

Why Osteoporosis around the World is a Major Problem?
Bone health is something which never comes to minds of most people across the continent. Osteoporosis does not have symptoms and this makes people not aware they have it till when they fracture a bone and their healthcare providers diagnose it. This is one of the major factors that have made osteoporosis a common disease with people throughout the world.

The ignorant nature of people to not care about the foods they eat has also contributed greatly to the increase of number of people who have osteoporosis.

Many people are engaged in excessive consumption of alcohol and smoking. Smoking and taking more than two alcoholic drinks a day exposes you to risks of bone loss. Many people around the world are not aware of this while some choose to ignore it.

A lot of people in the world lead an inactive life. People who don’t exercise their bodies have weak bones that can easily fracture.

Why Should you Keep your pH-Level in Check?
The measure of alkalinity or acidity in the body is the called ph. When your body has high levels of acids, minerals such as Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Potassium are used to neutralise the acids. This usually decreases the levels of these minerals in the body which can lead to deficiency. The deficiency of these minerals in the body causes bone loss and hip fractures.

Does Calcium Deficiency Cause Mobilization of Bones?
When your body has low Calcium, it dissolves some parts of your bones to compensate for the deficiency. This is called bone mobilization. The mobilization of bones causes your bone mass density to decrease which can put you at risk for osteoporosis.

What are the Various Calcium-Rich Foods Sources for Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis can be prevented if you take a diet that is rich in Calcium each day. Examples of foods that are rich in Calcium include milk, sardines, cheese, soybeans, yogurt, fortified orange juice, and leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach, collard green, broccoli, and turnips.

How Can Calcium Help Prevent Osteoporosis?
Enough intakes of diet rich in Calcium can help in the prevention of osteoporosis. You should always ensure you get the required amount of Calcium everyday to reduce the risk for osteoporosis. The amount of Calcium needed every day by your body depends with your age and gender.

What Research is Being Done on Calcium and Osteoporosis?
A group of scientists are studying new imaging and computer techniques that will help them see the internal structures of a bone. This will help them come up with bone models that will help them to predict patients that are prone to fractures. An example of such a technique is the computed tomography (CT) which can scan the spin and the hip. The CT creates s three-dimensional image of a bone which can be broken down into tiny pieces by the aid of computer modelling technique. The researchers will then be able to estimate the strength of each piece and that of the entire structure.

Researchers are also developing tools called biomarkers. These tools can provide more information about the mechanism of bone loss and also the understanding of osteoporosis.

Scientist at the Osteoporosis Clinical Center and Research Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are also researching on new compounds called vitamin D analogs; a neuron of vitamin D supplement which is likely the treatment for osteoporosis. These drugs can reduce bone loss and increase bone formation. Examples of these drugs include the 2MD, this drug has been tested on the animal type of osteoporosis and has been showing encouraging results and currently it is being researched in humans. Another research is done on drug called denosumab. This drug is said to be able to improve the bone mass density. Researcher says the drug might reduce the rate of bone loss by bone replacement. This drug is now in clinical trials and could soon be in the market.

If these scientists will be successful in their research, these drugs will breathe a new life to patients of osteoporosis.

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