Tampa General Hospital

Did You Know? Bone up on these facts and tips to keep your bones healthy. You have fewer bones now than you did when you were born. At birth, you had 270 bones. Over time, some fused, leaving your adult body with 206. Your bones aren't static — rather, they change every day, as new bone takes the place of old. Around age 30, you reach peak bone mass before entering a process of gradual bone decline that, for women, speeds up after menopause. This acceleration happens because women's bodies stop making estrogen, which protects bones. Your bones benefit from stress. When you force them to work against gravity during weight-bearing exercise, such as running, they respond by boosting cell production and adding density, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. You know calcium is essential for strong bones, right? What you may not know is that bones also need vitamin D, to absorb the calcium. Want to know if you have osteoporosis or are likely to in the future? There's a screening for that called a bone density test. If you're older than 50 and have recently broken a bone, the NOF recommends you talk with your doctor about having the scan. 2 1 4 6 3 5 If your body loses too much bone, you can develop osteoporosis, a condition that increases risk for fracture, particularly in the hips, spine and wrist. Osteoporosis mostly affects women older than 50, about half of whom will break a bone due to the disease, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). Sources include: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Arthritis Foundation, and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. 3 summer 2017 / tgh.org

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