Start exercising now, keep bone disease at bay

FIGHTING FIT: Osteoporosis and arthritis are one of the leading causes of disability especially among the elderly.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Television, for politicians with a vision

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• Keeping bone disease at bay
• Morning sex can keep you hale and hearty
• For healthy bones, eat right

Keywords: Elderly, Arthritis

New Delhi: Seventy-year-old Manorma Khanduja has suffered five fractures in the last one year. Her condition keeps her indoors most of the time, fact that this once active septuagenarian finds difficult to digest.

“I was alright with no symptoms. One day I fell while walking and that is when I had my first fracture,” says Manorma.

Manorma is one of the 24 million Indians who suffer from osteoporosis. While this figure is a cause for concern, what is more disturbing is the fact that not many are aware of the danger osteoporosis poses to bone health in general.

“A study by the Arthritis Foundation of India (AFI) found that one third of people did not know the difference between arthritis and osteoporosis,” says Dr Sushil Sharma of Arthritis Foundation of India.

The ignorance is disturbing considering osteoporosis and arthritis are one of the leading causes of disability, especially among the elderly.

But what we eat or drink or how we live in our 20s or 30s can have a huge impact on the health of our bones.

“Our bodies haven't accepted or adjusted to the sedentary lifestyle that our work or routine demands and we are suffering for it,” says Dr Sharma.

So make sure that you take enough of calcium and vitamin D in your diet. Stretching and weight training exercising will go a long way in keeping you and your bones fit for a long haul.