- Osteoporosis Definition. The word osteoporosis literally means "porous bones." It occurs when bones lose an excessive amount of their protein and mineral content.
- Approximately 80% of our water intake comes from drinking water and other beverages, and the other 20% comes from food. Assuming these percentages are.
How many Americans own passports? Which in some ways is fair enough; in comparison to Europeans, for example, popping over to another country is often a bigger deal than jumping on a train. But Ted read that only 7 per cent of Americans own passports and wondered where the figure comes from. It seems the statistic varies, for example: None of these are remotely official but I can’t find an official government statistic for passport ownership. The closest I’ve found is this page of the number of passports issued per year. First, lets be generous and say that every passport was issued to an adult and therefore lasts ten years.
Assuming that everyone who’s been issued a passport over the last ten years still has it, that’s 6. US passports. Given the US population is around 2. Taking into account some of these will be five year passports, we have a figure that’s probably a little under 2. Is there any reason this calculation would be way out? Incidentally, I graphed the statistics for US passports issued per year .
20% Exercise 80% Diet Quotes
You can see the dramatic rise over the past ten years. This may account for some of the lower figures people give; they could simply be out of date.
Using the same method for the years 1. If the rate of issue stabilised at around 7 million per year, never mind further growth, then by 2. US citizens will own a passport (assuming the same total population).
Update: From the comments, the Economist has a subscriber- only article that states 3. Americans over the age of 1. By comparison, it says 4. Canadians over 1.
The American Heart Association explains the good news about physical activity and why moving for 30 minutes a day can change your life for the better. A proper, slightly alkaline diet, suggests taking in at least 80% of alkalizing foods, like green vegetables or grasses, and never more than 20% of neutral and.
20% Exercise 80% Diet 20%
They conducted “household surveys” in Canada and the US with the results summarised in a table titled .
Over time, bone mass, and therefore bone strength, is decreased. As a result, bones become fragile and break easily. Even a sneeze or a sudden movement may be enough to break a bone in someone with severe osteoporosis. Description. Osteoporosis is a serious public health problem. Some 4. 4 million people in the United States are at risk for this potentially debilitating disease, which is responsible for 1. These fractures, which are often the first sign of the disease, can affect any bone, but the most common locations are the hip, spine, and wrist. Breaks in the hip and spine are of special concern because they almost always require hospitalization and major surgery, and may lead to other serious consequences, including permanent disability and even death.
The Rankings are based on a model of population health that emphasizes the many factors that, if improved, can help make communities healthier places to live, learn.
To understand osteoporosis, it is helpful to understand the basics of bone formation. Bone is living tissue that is constantly being renewed in a two- stage process (resorption and formation) that occurs throughout life.
In the resorption stage, old bone is broken down and removed by cells called osteoclasts. In the formation stage, cells called osteoblasts build new bone to replace the old. During childhood and early adulthood, more bone is produced than removed, reaching its maximum mass and strength by the mid- 3.
After that, bone is lost at a faster pace than it is formed, so the amount of bone in the skeleton begins to slowly decline. Most cases of osteoporosis occur as an acceleration of this normal aging process, which is referred to as primary osteoporosis. The condition also can be caused by other disease processes or prolonged use of certain medications that result in bone loss. If so, this is called secondary osteoporosis. Osteoporosis occurs most often in older people and in women after menopause. It affects nearly half of men and women over the age of 7.
Women are about five times more likely than men to develop the disease. They have smaller, thinner bones than men to begin with, and they lose bone mass more rapidly after menopause (usually around age 5. In the five to seven years following menopause, women can lose about 2. By age 6. 5 or 7.
As an increasing number of men reach an older age, there is more awareness that osteoporosis is an important health issue for them as well. In fact, a 2. 00. Causes and symptoms. A number of factors increase the risk of developing osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is more likely as people grow older and their bones lose tissue. Gender. Women are smaller and start out with less bone.
They also lose bone tissue more rapidly as they age. While women commonly lose 3.
Race. Caucasian and Asian women are most at risk for the disease, but African American and Hispanic women can get it too. Figure type. Women with small bones and those who are thin are more liable to have osteoporosis. Early menopause. Women who stop menstruating early because of heredity, surgery or lots of physical exercise may lose large amounts of bone tissue early in life. Conditions such as anorexia and bulimia also may lead to early menopause and osteoporosis. Lifestyle. People who smoke or drink too much, or do not get enough exercise have an increased chance of osteoporosis.
Diet. Those who do not get enough calcium or protein may be more likely to have osteoporosis. That is why people who constantly diet are more prone to the disease. Genetics. Research in Europe reported in 2. Studies were continuing on how to identify the gene and use information from the research to prevent osteoporosis in carriers. Osteoporosis is often called the . People often do not know they have the disease until a bone breaks, frequently in a minor fall that would not normally cause a fracture.
A common occurrence is compression fractures of the spine. These can happen even after a seemingly normal activity, such as bending or twisting to pick up a light object.
The fractures can cause severe back pain, but sometimes go unnoticed—either way, the vertebrae collapse down on themselves, and the person actually loses height. The hunchback appearance of many elderly women, sometimes called .
These include a geriatrician, who specializes in treating the aged; an endocrinologist, who specializes in treating diseases of the body's endocrine system (glands and hormones); and an orthopedic surgeon, who treats fractures such as those caused by osteoporosis. Before making a diagnosis of osteoporosis, the doctor usually takes a complete medical history, conducts a physical exam, and orders x rays, as well as blood and urine tests, to rule out other diseases that cause loss of bone mass. The doctor also may recommend a bone density test.
This is the only way to know for certain if osteoporosis is present. It also can show how far the disease has progressed. Several diagnostic tools are available to measure bone density. The ordinary x ray is one, though it is the least accurate for early detection of osteoporosis, because it does not reveal bone loss until the disease is advanced and most of the damage has already been done.
Two other tools that are more likely to catch osteoporosis at an early stage are computed tomography scans (CT scans) and machines called densitometers, which are designed specifically to measure bone density. The CT scan, which takes a large number of x rays of the same spot from different angles, is an accurate test, but uses higher levels of radiation than other methods. The most accurate and advanced of the densitometers uses a technique called DEXA (dual energy x- ray absorptiometry). With the DEXA scan, a double x- ray beam takes pictures of the spine, hip, or entire body. It takes about 2. Doctors do not routinely recommend the test, partly because access to densitometers is still not widely available.
People should talk to their doctors about their risk factors for osteoporosis and if, and when, they should get the test. Ideally, women should have bone density measured at menopause, and periodically afterward, depending on the condition of their bones. Men should be tested around age 6. Men and women with additional risk factors, such as those who take certain medications, may need to be tested earlier. Treatment. There are a number of good treatments for primary osteoporosis, most of them medications.
Two medications, alendronate and calcitonin (in nose spray form), have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They provide people who have osteoporosis with a variety of choices for treatment. For people with secondary osteoporosis, treatment may focus on curing the underlying disease. Drugs. For many women who have gone through menopause, the treatment of choice for osteoporosis has been hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also called estrogen replacement therapy.
Many women choose HRT when they undergo menopause to alleviate symptoms such as hot flashes, but hormones increase a woman's supply of estrogen, which helps build new bone, while preventing further bone loss. A 2. 00. 2 report from a large clinical trial called the Women's Health Initiative helped verify HRT's positive effects in preventing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. However, the WHI also revealed several risks with taking combined HRT (estrogen and progesterone). In fact, the trial was stopped early because the incidence of invasive breast cancer in women on HRT passed a threshold that was considered too risky for the benefits they were receiving.
The study also found that the women on combined hormone therapy were at increased risk for coronary heart disease and stroke. Whether or not a woman takes hormones and for how long is a decision she should make carefully with her doctor. Women should talk to their doctors about personal risks for osteoporosis, as well as their risks for heart disease and breast cancer. Since estrogen may no longer be recommended for prevention of osteoporosis, selective use of alendronate and calcitonin are possible alternatives.
Alendronate and calcitonin both stop bone loss, help build bone, and decrease fracture risk by as much as 5. Alendronate (sold under the name Fosamax) is the first nonhormonal medication for osteoporosis ever approved by the FDA. It attaches itself to bone that has been targeted by bone- eating osteoclasts, protecting the bone from these cells. Osteoclasts help the body break down old bone tissue. Calcitonin is a hormone that has been used as an injection for many years. A new version is on the market as a nasal spray. It too slows down bone- eating osteoclasts.
Side effects of these drugs are minimal, but calcitonin builds bone by only 1. Fosamax has proven safe in large, multi- year studies, but not much is known about the effects of its long- term use. Several medications under study include other bisphosphonates that slow bone breakdown (like alendronate), sodium fluoride, vitamin D metabolites, and selective estrogen receptor modulators. Some of these treatments are already being used in other countries, but have not yet been approved by the FDA for use in the United States. In early 2. 00. 3, a report announced that the FDA had recently approved the first drug that could form bone in osteoporosis patients. The drug is a form of the human parathyroid hormone called teriparatide. It shows promise for those patients at highest risk for fracture from the disease.
There are some patients who cannot use the drug, so all considering the new treatment must check with their physician and may need to undergo bone densitometry scans or other testing. Surgery. Unfortunately, much of the treatment for osteoporosis is for fractures that result from advanced stages of the disease. For complicated fractures, such as broken hips, hospitalization and a surgical procedure are required. In hip replacement surgery, the broken hip is removed and replaced with a new hip made of plastic, or metal and plastic. Though the surgery itself is usually successful, complications of the hip fracture can be serious. Those individuals have a 5- 2.
Paleo Diet May Undermine Benefit of Cross. Fit Exercise. Much of the low- carb and paleo reasoning revolves around insulin.
To quote a paleo blogger, . Carbs make our insulin go up, but so does protein. In 1. 99. 7, an insulin index of foods was published, ranking 3. Researchers compared a large apple and all its sugar, a cup of oatmeal packed with carbs, a cup and a half of white flour pasta, a big bun- less burger with no carbs at all, to half of a salmon fillet.
As you can see in the graph in my video Paleo Diets May Negate Benefits of Exercise, the meat produced the highest insulin levels. Researchers only looked at beef and fish, but subsequent data showed that that there. Thus, protein and fat rich foods may induce substantial insulin secretion.
In fact, meat protein causes as much insulin release as pure sugar. So, based on the insulin logic, if low- carbers and paleo folks really believed insulin to be the root of all evil, then they would be eating big bowls of spaghetti day in and day out before they would ever consume meat. They are correct in believing that having hyperinsulinemia, high levels of insulin in the blood like type 2 diabetics have, is not a good thing, and may increase cancer risk. But if low- carb and paleo dieters stuck to their own insulin theory, then they would be out telling everyone to start eating plant- based. Vegetarians have significantly lower insulin levels even at the same weight as omnivores. This is true for ovo- lacto- vegetarians, lacto- vegetarians, and vegans.
Meat- eaters have up to 5. Researchers from the University of Memphis put a variety of people on a vegan diet (men, women, younger folks, older folks, skinny and fat) and their insulin levels dropped significantly within just three weeks.
And then, just by adding egg whites back to their diet, their insulin production rose 6. In a study out of MIT, researchers doubled participants. Because the researchers weren? Low carb advocates, such as Dr. Westman is the author of the new Atkins books. Atkins died obese with, according to the medical examiner, a history of heart attack, congestive heart failure, and hypertension. Westman was wrong in his assumption.
There is no significant drop in insulin levels on very low- carb diets. Instead, there is a significant rise in LDL cholesterol levels, the number one risk factor for our number one killer, heart disease. Atkins is an easy target though.
No matter how many “new” Atkins diets that come out, it. What about the paleo diet? The paleo movement gets a lot of things right. They tell people to ditch dairy and doughnuts, eat lots of fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and cut out a lot of processed junk food. But a new study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science is pretty concerning.
Researchers took young healthy people, put them on a Paleolithic diet along with a Cross. Fit- based, high- intensity circuit training exercise program. If you lose enough weight exercising, you can temporarily drop your cholesterol levels no matter what you eat. You can see that with stomach stapling surgery, tuberculosis, chemotherapy, a cocaine habit, etc. Just losing weight by any means can lower cholesterol, which makes the results of the Paleo/Crossfit study all the more troubling. After ten weeks of hardcore workouts and weight loss, the participants.
And it was even worse for those who started out the healthiest. Those starting out with excellent LDL. Exercise is supposed to boost our good cholesterol, not lower it. The paleo diet. Exercise is supposed to make things better. On the other hand, if we put people instead on a plant- based diet and a modest exercise program, mostly just walking- based, within three weeks their bad cholesterol can drop 2. Please see my video Does Cholesterol Size Matter?
In health,Michael Greger, M. D. PS: If you haven.