'Osteoporosis' is a disease and it literally means bone that is porous.

It causes bones to lose mass and become brittle which can lead to rounded shoulders, loss of height and painful fractures.

Throughout our lives, old bone is removed (resorption) and new bone is added. During childhood and teenage years new bone is added faster than old bone is removed. Bone formation continues at ad faster rate than resorption until around age 30 when we reach our peak bone mass or density. After 30, resorption slowly begins to exceed bone formation and if we did not reach optimal bone mass during the bone formation years, we are more likely to develop Osteoporosis.

In ageing adults, bone loss is associated with marked increase in fracture rates in both sexes, but particularly in post-menopausal women.

Therefore it is particularly important to consume required amount of Calcium and Vitamin D (that aids calcium absorption and is also synthesized by our body through exposure to sunlight) throughout our lives before age 30 to make our bones stronger and to modify the rate of bone loss associated with ageing.

While bone loss is a natural phenomenon, scientific evidence shows that good nutritional and lifestyle habits can slow down the process and help maintain healthy bones. Moreover it is never too late and we can reduce the ill effects of bone loss by ensuring requisite Calcium intake.

Read these guidelines to see how you can start taking better care of yourself:

Getting the Power of Calcium Ensuring Calcium & Vitamin D through Your Diet Work it out Have it Checked Put that cigarette out and put a smile on

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