Health Matters
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OSTEOPOROSIS…
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
By Anika C. Johnson |
A common myth is osteoporosis only affects older
adults. This is simply not true. Osteoporosis can
creep up on anyone who has weak bones. According to
the Mayo Clinic, osteoporosis, which means “porous
bones,” causes bones to become weak and brittle — so
brittle that a fall or even mild stresses like
bending over or coughing can cause a fracture. In
some cases where people fall and break bones, it is
assumed the broken bones were due to the fall, but,
really, the fall was due to brittle bones.
How likely you are to develop osteoporosis depends
on how much bone mass you attained in your 20s and
early 30s (peak bone mass) and how rapidly you lose
it later. The higher your peak bone mass, the more
bone you have “in the bank” and the less likely you
are to develop osteoporosis as you age. Osteoporosis
is sometimes called a “silent disease,” with few if
any noticeable changes to your health to indicate
you have it. Often, the first indication of
osteoporosis is when a bone breaks. Some symptoms
include:
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Back pain, which can be severe, as a result of a
fractured or collapsed vertebra
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Loss of height over time
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A stooped posture
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Fracture of the vertebra, wrist, hip or other bones
There is good news and bad news in regards to this
silent disease. The bad news is there are risk
factors that you cannot control; they include being
a woman. It appears women are twice as likely to get
the disease. Individuals with really thin frames and
a low Body Mass Index tend to have a higher risk.
Medical conditions and weight loss surgeries affect
the body’s ability to absorb calcium. Also just like
other diseases, family history can affect one’s
chances of getting osteoporosis.
Now, on to the good news. There are risk factors you
can control and heighten your chances of not getting
osteoporosis.
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Not using tobacco
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Watching excessive alcohol usage
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Staying away from eating
disorders
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Increasing calcium intake
In reference to calcium, bones weaken when you have
low levels of calcium and other minerals in your
bones. A major component needed to help protect bone
is calcium. This major nutrient is needed to form
new bone cells and, as you guessed it, is vital for
bone health. Your bones store more than 99 percent
of the calcium in your body. Good sources of calcium
include dairy products, almonds, dark green leafy
vegetables and calcium-fortified foods such as
cereals and fruit juice (ADA). The amount of calcium
one requires changes with age. For example, an adult
between the ages of 19-50 needs 1,000 milligrams of
calcium a day while an adult 50 and older needs
1,200 milligrams of calcium a day.
Dear Robust Reader,
Calcium is a nutrient that offers more bang for your
bucks besides stronger teeth. Remember, it is not
enough to be informed on how to stay clear of
ailments. We must practice what we know to be good
for our health. Ultimately, these habits will spill
over into the lives of those around us in time.
Stay tuned next month. Please forward your thoughts,
comments and ideas, as they are important to me to:
ajohn006@waldenu.edu attention: Anika
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RISK FACTORS OR PROTECTIVE FACTORS —
WHAT WOULD YOU WANT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
By Zaida Govan
Think about the neighborhood you live in. Think
about the number of gas stations near you. Think
about the number of beauty salons and auto mechanic
shops near you. What about the streets? Are you able
to walk on them without fearing for your safety? Are
there enough trees to clean the air for everyone in
the area?
These kinds of things could either be called
protective factors or risk factors. Protective
factors are those things that help to build and
sustain community and individual health. Safe, well
maintained parks, access to healthy food, clean air
and reliable, safe transportation. These and other
factors are ways that a neighborhood’s protective
factors can positively impact individual health.
Risk factors are things like a resident’s fear of
walking outdoors in the evening and not letting
their children go out after school or on the
weekends. Shoddy school buildings, lack of decent
full line grocery stores where fresh fruits and
vegetables are available at reasonable prices,
little access to jobs, high crime areas. These
factors have a profound impact for community and
individual health.
Is the Mason Square area a community with more
protective factors or more risk factors? In the
video “Unnatural Causes: Place Matters” (unnaturalcauses.org),
you see that neighborhoods with protective factors
are usually isolated in the outskirts of the city,
out in the suburbs, not in the middle of the city
where more times than not people of color live. In
the city of Springfield, the middle of the city is
the Mason Square area. A long time ago this area
used to be thriving and had many protective factors,
it seems that it is now a forgotten area of the
city. The City of Homes was called such because of
the beautiful, Victorian houses here in the Mason
Square area and other parts of the city.
It is our responsibility to assure that this area
not be forgotten. We have to work together to bring
it back to its glory days. It won’t be easy because
of the institutional racism that continues to be
perpetuated by gatekeepers who don’t even know they
are doing it. We have to collaborate in the effort
to have more protective factors than risk factors.
It can be done. Think about the Dudley Street
Initiative (dsni.org) in Boston where one little boy
chased garbage trucks out of his neighborhood
because they were going to illegally dump garbage
because it was a black neighborhood and no one had
cared for a long time. It was almost legal to do
that by the time the residents began to show they
cared and worked hard to change things. Dudley
Square is now a thriving neighborhood with
protective factors that outweigh the risks.
That little boy is now one of the leaders of the
initiative and is still working to keep the
protective factors in place and increase them.
It will not be done overnight; it may take 10 years,
20 years or more, but it has to be started. Think
about your children, your grandchildren; do you want
them to live in a neighborhood with protective
factors or risk factors? Then we have to make it for
them; it won’t happen by itself and no one is going
to do it because we want them to. Many feathers may
be ruffled, but without agitation things never
change.
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Colon Cancer Awareness Month
The Massachusetts Department of
Public Health Call to Action:
If you are 50 and older, call your health care
provider, today, about a colon cancer screening
test. This test can completely prevent colon cancer
or mean a life saving difference in treating and
beating this disease.
At Risk Populations:
The MDPH call to action should be taken by all
Massachusetts residents, both men and women, who are
50 years and older (nine out of 10 colon cancer
cases are diagnosed in people older than 50). In
Massachusetts, statistics show that African American
and Latino males should especially heed the MDPH
message. Studies reveal that in our state African
American males have higher mortality rates from
colon cancer, possibly due to the fact that they are
being diagnosed at later stages of the disease;
while Latino males in the state are being diagnosed
with mid-to-late stage colorectal cancer at almost
twice the rate of the population as a whole.
With screening and early detection and
treatment, colon cancer can be highly preventable,
treatable and beatable. To reap these benefits, the
MDPH advises that you have to take action--by
speaking with your healthcare provider, now, to
determine which life saving colon cancer screening
procedure is right for you. Undergoing colon cancer
screening, now, is the key to prevention and
wellness.
Everyone 50 or older should undergo life saving
colon cancer screening.
Colon cancer can occur without you having any
symptoms, making early screening even more
important.
Talk to your health care provider, now, about
scheduling a colon cancer screening.
Most health insurance plans cover colon cancer
screening procedures, as does Medicare and Medicaid.
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TAKE PART
IN AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION ALERT DAY,
MARCH 23
African Americans at Higher Risk
Springfield – “Diabetes is one of the most
serious health concerns for African Americans
today,” according to Dr. Sabyasachi Sen of
Baystate Endocrinology and Diabetes.
That’s why it’s important to remember the
American Diabetes Association Alert Day, March 23, a
one-day “wake up” call to encourage the American
public to learn more about their risks for diabetes
and to take the Diabetes Risk test to determine
their chances of developing type 2 Diabetes.
Over 23 million people currently suffer from
diabetes, while an additional 57 million, or 1 in 5
Americans, are at risk for developing the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control,
14.7% of all non-Hispanic blacks, age 20 and older,
have been diagnosed with the disease, whereas
9.8% of non-Hispanic whites, age 20 and older, have
type 2 diabetes.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include frequent
infections, blurred vision, bruises and cuts which
are slow to heal, tingling and numbness in the hands
and feet, extreme hunger or thirst and fatigue.
Type 2 diabetes is also more common in Latinos,
Native Americans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians
and other Pacific Islanders.
Minority populations in the United States have
higher instances of non-insulin dependent diabetes,
and are more likely to die from the complications of
type 2 diabetes than the general population.
According to Dr. Sen, genetic make-up and poor
dietary choice puts African Americans at a higher
risk for developing type 2 diabetes. African
Americans are also more likely to develop metabolic
syndrome and insulin resistance, said Dr. Sen, which
also increases their risk for disease.
“People with diabetes must take responsibility for
their day-to-day care,” said Dr. Sen.
The chances of having diabetes complications can be
reduced significantly by keeping blood sugar, blood
pressure, and cholesterol levels in the target range
recommended by a doctor.
Early detection is critical to successful treatment
and delaying or preventing some of the complications
of diabetes such as heart disease, blindness, kidney
disease, stroke, amputation and death. Type 2
diabetes was the number seven most common cause of
death in 2006.
Dr. Sen said several studies have shown that diet
modification and exercise are the best ways to
reduce the risk of diabetes. Despite available
medicines that claim to reduce glucose levels and
other internal levels, maintaining a healthy body
weight by watching what you eat and how often you
exercise will offer many the results they need to
rise above the disease.
For more information on diabetes care, or to find
out your risks, take the Diabetes Risk test,
available on the Baystate Health website at
www.baystatehealth.org and click Diabetes
under the Clinical Services tab.
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