Adrienne von Tunzelmann had a family history of osteoporosis. After watching her mother degrade she joined the board of Osteoporosis in New Zealand wanting to improve the outlook for both herself and others. This illness is silently reaching epidemic levels. Exercise, medication, and calcium-rich diet can help, however, fighting osteoporosis is a process that cannot be stopped even as the patient ages. Unfortunately, poor diagnosis and gaps in care in many countries continues to let the problem grow. If one wishes to decrease their risk for osteoporosis they should avoid smoking, steroid drugs, high caffeine, and high alcohol consumption.
Key Takeaways:
- As she approached her 50th birthday, von Tunzelmann was shocked to learn she had low bone density
- Her mother’s illness and her own story prompted her to go on the board of Osteoporosis New Zealand
- Apart from age and low body weight, other risk factors are smoking, family history, prior fracture, steroid drugs, and high caffeine and alcohol consumption.
“Adrienne von Tunzelmann was just 49 when she fell and broke a hip. At the time, her mother, Valerie, was hunched over with a dowager’s hump, so frail from osteoporosis it had rendered her immobile.”
https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/85420678/Osteoporosis-the-silent-bone-breaker&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGmU0N2NhMzY3ZTc4ODMzY2U6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNETQ8GSAfkxStewvv09Kd7l9m8t9g