Osteoporosis Treatment

Osteoporosis is the most vital symptom of menopause, which requires urgent care and doctor’s attention. This is because it is the most serious of all the menopause symptoms. It is true that women are more vulnerable - three in four adults suffering from osteoporosis are female. These women who are 50 and above start to lose bone mass very quickly due to lack of calcium since their teenage period and hormonal changes.

Luckily, one can treat the root causes of osteoporosis that are hormonal imbalance and lack of calcium. To do so, three approaches are considered for the osteoporosis treatment namely, Lifestyle Changes, Alternative Medicine, and Drugs and Surgery.

• Lifestyle ChangesThis is the first step in the osteoporosis treatment, which involves no risk at all, but requires the greatest degree of self discipline. Simple changes in lifestyle have been proved very useful providing big health advantages while combating osteoporosis. As lack of calcium is one of the main reasons behind the brittle bones, it is necessary to increase the amount of calcium in your diet. Further, Vitamin D is also important for strong bones, as it also helps in the absorption of calcium. So, as per the age, check out your recommended daily requirements of calcium and vitamin D.
• Calcium Dose
• 50 and above: 1200 mg
• 19-50 years old: 1000 mg
• 9-18 years old: 1300 mg
• 4-8 years old: 800 mg
• 1-3 years old: 500 mg
 
• Vitamin D Dose
• 19-50: 5ug or (200iu)
• 51-70: 10ug or (400iu)
• 71 and above: 15ug or (600iu)

Food items rich in calcium and vitamin D are - yogurt with more dry milk, skim milk, defatted soy flour, calcium rich orange juice, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, sesame seeds, carrots (little cooked), pumpkin, squash, oatmeal, shredded wheat, tofu with calcium sulfate, low fat tomato sauces, pasta, nuts, and grape juice.

Besides food, another way to recover bone mass is through weight-bearing exercises like walking, jogging, jumping, stair climbing, and push-ups forcing weight via the bones to ensure density. One more necessary change in life is to avoiding alcohol and cigarettes. All these options surely stop or slow down the process of osteoporosis, but do not treat the root cause of hormonal imbalance.

• Alternative MedicineThis directly addresses the problem of hormonal imbalance with little to no risk. Medicines and techniques involved here are regarded as the most effective options in the osteoporosis treatment. These include herbal remedies, acupuncture, and massage. Among all, the herbal remedies are the most preferred ones, which need comparatively less time and money investment. These remedies involve two types of herbs namely, phytoestrogenic and non-estrogenic herbs. Phytoestrogenic herbs (such as Black Cohosh) are packed with estrogenic components that when taken, treat the hormonal imbalance via these plant-based estrogens. But due to this, the body might witness a decrease in its capacity of producing estrogen resulting in further decrease of the hormone levels.
  
  The non-estrogenic herbs, although do not come with estrogen, have the power to rectify the hormonal imbalance. They do so by increasing the hormone production in the body by nourishing the pituitary and endocrine glands. This action leads to the increase in the level of estrogen reducing the loss of bone mass. So, these herbs such as Macafem are regarded by the most as the safest way to treat osteoporosis naturally, because the body does not have to dependent on any external help for producing its own hormones.
  
  Many women suggest combining the lifestyle changes and alternative medicines for the best results.
• Drugs and SurgeryThis is the third and last approach available for only those who are suffering from severe osteoporosis. Involving the highest risk and cost, this level is only undertaken with the guidance of an expert. The most common drug therapy in the osteoporosis treatment is the Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). It has been seen that this therapy might be really a faster method to fight with hormonal imbalance. But, as each coin has two sides, so do this therapy. The negative side is that it comes with dangerous side effects and leads to the risk of different types of cancer.
  
  Speaking about medications used in the osteoporosis treatment, these are bisphosphonates and calcitonin slowing down the loss of bone mass and teriparatide increasing the bone creation.