Osteoporosis in Young Women
Bone Density Disease and Fractures Not Just a Concern of the Elderly
Are today's young women becoming ticking time-bombs for an osteoporotic generation? A closer look at the factors.
A new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that for women and girls, drinking just four glasses of full-sugar or diet cola a week reduces bone density, which in turn can increase the chance of fractures.
A reduced bone-mass density raises the risk of developing osteoporosis in later life, which brings with it a risk of collapsing spinal bones, broken hips, and other fractures.
Many people think of osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease, as an affliction of the elderly, but in fact every week we recycle between five and seven per cent of our bone, and this process is influenced profoundly by what we eat and drink from day to day.
Drinking cola isn’t the only way in which young women are jeopardising their bone health. Women who smoke, drink more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol a week, or who are underweight are all putting themselves at risk of developing brittle bone disease.
With this in mind, are today’s young women becoming ticking time-bombs for an osteoporosis generation?
Kate White, 22, from London considers herself to be healthy and fit, although she admits that her high-octane lifestyle might be putting her at risk.
“I work in magazines,” she says, “so the pressure is on to look good. I work hard at keeping my weight down around eight stone, and to do so I often skip meals and smoke instead. I think I have about ten cigarettes a day.”
With her five foot seven frame, Kate’s BMI of 18.0 puts her in the underweight category. At this weight she may be lacking in oestrogen. This hormone is essential for healthy bones, but levels are often low in girls who are underweight or who over-exercise.
Kate also bypasses calcium-rich dairy products, which would help give her bones more resilience. She says: “I don’t like the taste of milk, and dairy products are often high in fat as well, so on the whole I try to avoid them.
“When I go out I usually have double vodka and diet coke. It’s different every week but I often have about 20 a week.”
This level of alcohol consumption could amount to as much as 40 units and around ten glasses of cola a week, far beyond the recommended levels.
This, coupled with the fact that she rarely has time to do any exercise, taking the bus or Tube instead of walking, puts Kate in a high risk category for osteoporosis.
Judith Cranford, Director of the National Osteoporosis Foundation says: “Just as a muscle gets stronger and bigger the more you use it, a bone becomes stronger and denser when you place demands on it.
“If your bones are not called upon to work, such as during physical activity, they don’t receive any messages that they need to be strong. Thus, a lack of exercise, particularly as you get older, can contribute to lower bone mass or density.”
Kate, however, points out that she is not acting differently from most of her peers.
“When I consider how much I put myself at risk I am a bit shocked, but I think that there are an awful lot of girls out there who do many, if not all of the same things, which may affect their bones.
“There’s not an awful lot of publicity about this, and I’d always assumed osteoporosis was something you didn’t really need to worry about until you were much older.”
