Many women suffer from osteoporosis mostly due to their unhealthy lifestyle choices. The truth is that hunchback, back pain and frailty can all be avoided with the proper lifestyle changes. Osteoporosis threatens approximately 44 million Americans, 68 % of which are women. So what are some of the risk factors and what can we do in order to reduce our chances of developing this illness?

Two of the main cause factors include age and sex. Women tend to develop this particular illness more frequently than men. Other factors which increase our chances of developing osteoporosis include ethnicity (White and Asian have a greater risk), family history, thin boned frame, infrequent menstrual cycles, estrogen loss due to menopause, anorexia, diet low in calcium, diet low in vitamin D, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, alcohol consumption, and certain medications. With all of these risk factors, is osteoporosis even preventable?

Many doctors believe that osteoporosis is preventable. Our bodies build up bone mass until the age of thirty, after that new bone stops forming and our focus should be on maintaining old bone. So basically, we have to take care of our bones throughout our lives. During our youth years we need to consume a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D in order to build up strong bone mass. Once we reach our thirties we still need to maintain a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D in order to keep our bones strong and prevent breakage. And this is where many people go astray. Once they reach their teen years, people completely forget about bone health until the day they start noticing problems. If proper care is taken throughout the years, bone problems can easily be avoided. So talk to your doctor about the proper calcium dosage for your particular age group and support your bone health today.