Bone and Joint Week – A Chance to Improve Your Life

This week is Bone and Joint Week which is a chance to focus on the health of our bones and our joints and, which may come as a disappointment to some, has nothing to do with marijuana. Bone health has much to do with our whole body’s health and is especially important as we grow older.

How many times have we heard, “So and so fell and broke her hip and died a few days/weeks later?” It seems to be a common series of events and was made much more personal to me a few years ago. When my mother-in-law, Ada, was in her late 90s her healthcare nurse visited her and pled with her to use her cane or walker as she moved around. Ada had become somewhat unsteady, and her bone density was poor. Ada, who always had her own mind and was also very honest, told the nurse that she appreciated her advice but that she probably wouldn’t use either the cane or the walker. The nurse later took my wife aside and told her that Ada could fall, break her hip, and it would be the death of her. She told my wife to not blame herself or others who took care of Ada because people have their freedom and Ada was exercising hers. Ada had a huge 100^th birthday party and a few months later she fell, broke her hip, and died 3 days later, with her daughter at her side.

I tell this story to highlight a couple of things. First, in these days of battles over mandates and freedom of choice, it is difficult to know where to draw the line between preserving your rights while protecting those around us. My wife tried to help her mother but, in the end, it was her mother’s decision to venture out without her cane or walker. Second, it is amazing how impactful a broken bone can be on older people. The nurse, no doubt, had seen this scenario play out many times to allow her to make her prediction. It’s up to us to not become another participant in this common scenario.

As I did research, I was surprised that you didn’t have to be 100 to have weakened bones. In fact, as the chart below shows, you lose the most bone density between ages 35 and 60. Women are especially at risk for bone loss. This means you need to tell your children that they can impact their bone health before they get old, like us.

The good news is there are things we can do to help our bone health even when we are older. The first thing we can do is take this short survey that will help determine our risk level for osteoporosis. We also should talk to our doctors about our bone health. She/he may recommend that you have a bone density test to determine the status of your bones. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that all women over 65 should have this test.

There is an excellent link on the NIH website that references the Surgeon General’s report on bone health. The report covers all ages and, while it enables us to offer suggestions on bone health to our children and grandchildren, it has some great information on things we can do, even at our advanced age, to protect our bones.

My hope is that we pay attention to the information available and make some changes to our lifestyle to improve our bone health. There are some things we can do so that we don’t follow the scenario that the nurse predicted and ultimately came to fruition for Ada. We do have the power to not become part of the pattern.

Best, Thair