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Avoiding Osteoporosis

Women - and men - can fend off bone-thinning osteoporosis by being aggressive about eating well, taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, and doing regular weight-bearing exercise, says Dr. Alan Gibstein, an expert on women's issues.

"Since all women lose calcium after age 30, they need to do everything they can to keep what they have. Men, too," says Gibstein, who is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University College of Medicine and a teacher at the Long Island Jewish North Shore Health Care System. The stereotype is that osteoporosis is a disease of older women. But the reality is that the disorder is a significant threat to more than 2 million American men.

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How to Save Your Knees From Arthroscopic Surgery

If you have osteoarthritis of the knees, with all of the pain and loss of flexibility that entails, chances are your doctor has recommended arthroscopic surgery. This is a procedure in which the surgeon inserts a scope into the knee and cleans out bits of loose bone and smoothes rough cartilage.

But there are ways to avoid this invasive, expensive surgery and actually alleviate the arthritis.

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As Goes Oral Health, So Goes General Health

Many studies are showing a persistent connection between gum disease and other ailments that afflict corners of the body far afield from the teeth.

Specifically, when gingivitis (early-stage gum disease) or full-blown periodontal disease is present, it's often the case that doctors find that a patient has diabetes, kidney disorders, preterm labor, certain types of cancer, osteoporosis or even Alzheimer's disease.

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Smoking's Link to Back Problems

Smoking causes cancer, lung disease and heart attacks, and disrupts body chemistry in such dangerous ways that a host of other ailments can result. So it's not surprising that even back problems might be caused by nicotine and smoke ingestion.

Indeed, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) says smoking diminishes the blood supply to the bones, and saps them of calcium, both of which increase the possibility of the onset of osteoporosis. Suggestive of the relationship between smoking and back issues, one's chances for success after back surgery improve dramatically if one is a nonsmoker or has ceased smoking.

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High Impact Means High Bone Density for Children

High impact activities like jumping and skipping has been shown to benefit bone health in adolescents. A ten minute school based intervention, provided twice a week for eight months, greatly improved bone and muscle strength in healthy teenagers when compared to regular warmups. Physiotherapist Ben Weeks said the warm-up, which included high intensity jumps and lunges of gradually increasing complexity and repetition, was specifically designed to stimulate skeletal growth. By the end of the study, students worked up to about 300 jumps per session.

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Osteoporosis Drug Danger

There is a growing number of cases of a disturbing complication to the bone building medications like fosamax. Those taking the drugs are at an increased risk of horrible breakdown of the jaw after dental procedures.

This was first noticed perhaps a year and a half ago, but even just now are dentists and oral surgeons taking notice.

Now, while this is a very serious side effect, it doesn’t mean the medicines should be stopped. They just need to be used with caution, especially when invasive dental procedures need to be performed.

It was a problem that had dentist Bob Deutch very concerned--scratching his head as to what was going on with his patient’s jawbone.

Dr. Deutch says, “A patient post-operatively healing perfectly from implant surgery we started to notice there was some osteonecrosis taking place for no apparent reason.”

Osteonecrosis--the breakdown of the jaw bone…

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Reports on Calcium, Lawn Moving Accidents, Herbs for lower back pain

A new review of medical literature in the highly regarded Cochrane Library surprisingly casts doubt on the value of supplements and calcium-fortified foods to build stronger bones in kids!

The review shows that supplementing the diet with calcium in healthy children has little benefit for bone health.

They say in the long run, bone mass didn’t improve much.

Pediatricians and parents are concerned with calcium intake because they want to ensure that boys and girls achieve peak bone strength in childhood, a time when kids build bone at an accelerated pace.

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Hip Fracture

1 in 4 people will ultimately die from complications caused by a hip fracture. Each year in the United States, there are 350,000 hip fractures.

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Knee Replacement

Osteoarthritis is the main reason patients need to undergo knee replacement surgery. The major problem in this condition is that the cartilage on the surface of the bone of the joint, wears away.

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KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS TOPICAL TREATMENT

52 year old George Laflare has been a sports fanatic since his high school days. A former football player, George says over the years his knees have really taken a beating. Eventually he developed knee osteoarthritis. Now, new topical treatments of knee osteoarthritis are helping George cope with the pain.

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