After breaking her wrist earlier this year, Local 10′s Kristi Krueger learned about the importance of building healthier and stronger bones.
Krueger lives an active lifestyle which includes biking vacations, hiking and running half-marathons. After she broke her wrist in two places, she learned that her bones have lost a good deal of density.
Dr. Roy Cardoso, an orthopedic surgeon from Baptist Health, put her back together with some fancy hardware now keeping her bones in place.
Krueger said she has regained mobility and learned that if she did not do something to reserve her bone loss, there is a 50 percent chance of breaking another bone int he next two years.
“Osteopenia is actually an endemic problem. It’s very, very common in folks older than 50. It’s very undertreated, so it’s a big problem,” said Dr. Cardoso.
Dr. Cardoso sent Krueger to April Tschumy with the Bone Health and Fracture Prevention Clinic at Baptist Health.
“Prevention is key. primarily in childhood, adolescence and teens and 20′s and 30′s you want to be building up a bone bank. You want to have calcium rich foods, magnesium rich foods, and phosphorus rich foods,” said Tschumy.
As we age, our risk of osteopenia and later osteoporosis increases. If you are white or Asian, a post-menopausal woman, have a family history of bone loss, a small body frame or an inactive lifestyle, your risk increases.
But Tschumy says bone loss can be reversed.
“The key is really strengthening exercises. bone building exercises are resistance or weightlifting, a minimum of 15 minutes, three times a week,” said Tschumy.
She said you can build bones by adding calcium and vitamin D rich foods, dairy products, fortified juices and cereal, salmon and sardines, beans and dark leafy greens to your diet.
the goal is to get 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium every day from food and drinks.
Once you turn 50, Dr. Cardoso says it is important to talk to your doctor about getting a bone density test.
Osteopenia is a very underdiagnosed condition, which is why Baptist Health opened the Bone Health and Fracture Prevention Clinic, the only one of its kind in South Florida.