Osteoporosis is a disease of the human bone-supporting system, associated with a decrease in bone density. Thinning of bone tissue occurs due to the washing out of calcium from the body and poor ability to digest it from food for any reason. Among women, this disease is more common than in men, as this is facilitated by a change in the hormonal background in menopause, and in this case we are talking about postmenopausal osteoporosis.
"Is it possible to cure osteoporosis?" - this question is asked by any woman who faces this ailment. To date, there are effective means for maintaining the health of women with this disease, but, unfortunately, so far there have not been developed such drugs for osteoporosis that would allow to get rid of it altogether.
How to identify osteoporosis?
The symptoms of osteoporosis in women include:
- Strong pain. Usually in the lumbosacral area. As a rule, in the prone position such pain ceases.
- Reducing the growth of women. Usually in women with osteoporosis, due to a decrease in growth, a peculiar stooped posture appears, as if she is hunching.
- Fractures that occur even with a minor injury.
- Lack of calcium in the body with osteoporosis provokes the appearance of indirect symptoms of the disease: seizures at night in the legs, nail bundle, earlier graying of hair, fatigue, etc.
What to take with osteoporosis?
In the treatment of osteoporosis, women usually use hormonal drugs based on female sex hormones, if the disease is associated with menopause. This technique is fraught with the fact that hormone replacement therapy will have to be carried out throughout life, since a complete cure for this disease is excluded. This is not the best option, since hormonal support for a long time can negatively affect a woman's health.
Another option for treating osteoporosis in women is to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which includes: proper nutrition, moderate exercise, avoiding bad habits, taking calcium supplements in conjunction with vitamin D.
Smoking and alcohol interfere with the normal absorption of calcium from the intestine. Therefore, it is important to give up harmful habits. It is inappropriate for osteoporosis to have a sedentary lifestyle that interferes with the normal blood supply of tissues in the body and the transfer of important trace elements along the bloodstream. Activity and exercise help disperse blood through blood vessels and accelerate metabolic processes.
Menu with osteoporosis
The menu should be made taking into account the needs of the organism in the material for the construction of bone tissue.
When osteoporosis is recommended to increase food intake:
- Rich in calcium salts - the main structural element of bone (dairy and sour-milk products, nuts, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, rye bread).
- With an increased content of magnesium - to improve the absorption of calcium in the intestine. For example, millet, oat flakes, bananas, cabbage, buckwheat, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, peanuts, green pepper, cheese, beans, peas.
- They are a source of phosphorus, which ensures the strength of bone tissue (these are hard cheeses, egg white, oat flakes, pork and beef liver, white beans, milk, millet, grain bread, poultry, etc.)
- Containing copper, which affects the increase in the function of female sex hormones (these products include: liver, seafood, cocoa, raisins, cream).