Bob Kubik, Age 79
Twists help strengthen your spine!
It’s a stereotype in our culture that osteoporosis is a woman’s disease. And it turns out that stereotype is not only untrue, but it’s also harmful, as it prevents men from having their bones checked and/or cultivating bone strength as they age. So today I thought I’d let you know about a study I just learned about that discusses the incidence of osteoporosis in men. Update in Male Osteoporosis.
The study looked at updated information about incidence of osteoporosis in men (epidemiology) as well as the causes and treatment of the disease. For today, I’d just like to focus on the incidence of the disease. Here’s how the author of the study, Dr. Sundeep Khosla, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, put it:
“With the aging of the population, osteoporosis in men is becoming an increasingly important public health problem. Aging men lose bone mineral density (BMD) at a rate of approximately 1% per year, and one in five men over the age of 50 yr will suffer an osteoporotic fracture during their lifetime. Of all osteoporotic fractures, hip fractures contribute to the greatest morbidity and mortality, and almost 30% of all hip fractures occur in men.”
Dr. Kholsa went on to write that although awareness of the problem of osteoporosis in men is increasing, there are still huge gaps in the way that men are diagnosed and treated compared to the way women are diagnosed and treated. For example, men are still far less likely than women to be given a diagnosis of osteoporosis or after a fracture to receive treatment for it. He concluded:
“Finally, given that osteoporosis in men remains an underdiagnosed and undertreated disorder, increasing public awareness of this important cause of morbidity and mortality in men is key to ensure that as men age, they are spared the consequences of this disabling but now eminently preventable and treatable disease.”
So I’m doing my best today to increase public awareness! And I’d also like to remind everyone that yoga could be particularly effective for maintaining and even increasing bone strength. In your yoga asana practice, you take many weight-bearing positions on your feet, such as in the standing poses, as well as on other parts of your body, such as hands, sitting bones, and shins. All of these weight-bearing poses load your bones, which naturally builds bone strength. In addition, the muscle contractions you use to stay in the pose stimulates your bones to strengthen themselves more vigorously than weight bearing alone. And the great variety of poses means that you will be strengthening all your bones! See Featured Sequence: Bone Strength Practice for some ideas of poses to practice!
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