Word: calcium
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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BONE BUILDERS Elderly women concerned about osteoporosis may have a kinder, gentler way to build strong bones. Low doses of hormone-replacement therapy, combined with calcium and vitamin D supplements, produce minimal side effects and may increase bone mass just as effectively as today's higher-dose hormone regimens...
Osteoporosis is thought of as a woman's disease. Women are generally smaller than men and have less bone mass to begin with. They tend to consume less calcium and vitamin D over a lifetime, and in menopause their bodies stop producing bone-protecting estrogen. So when they reach their 70s, many women begin to suffer fractures. Men are not likely to reach that stage until they are in their 80s, and because comparatively few men have lived to be octogenarians, their risk has been more theoretical than real. But as men live longer, osteoporosis will be a major problem...
Both men and women 50 or older should step up their calcium intake from about 1,000 mg a day to at least 1,200 mg. That's a lot. An 8-oz. glass of milk contains about 300 mg, an equal amount of yogurt the same. Hard cheese and calcium-fortified orange juice are helpful, as are soft-shell crabs and the bones of small fish. The general rule applies here too: consume as much calcium as you can through food, but for many it is hard to eat sardine skeletons daily...
...Calcium is not absorbed by the body without vitamin D. The ultraviolet rays of the sun manufacture D in the skin, but the efficiency of the factory declines with age. It drops even further if you live in the northern half of the country, where the sun is too low on the horizon half the year to help, and even lower if you keep your skin covered to protect it from cancer...
...SHINE Vitamin D may be even more important than we knew for keeping women's bones strong. A new study shows that 50% of females with hip fractures are D-deficient. The vitamin not only helps the body absorb calcium, but it's now thought to play a critical role in bone repair. What to do: load up on fortified milk and cereal--and get some...