If often suggested that the major causes
of osteoporosis are low calcium intake and lower estrogen levels
at menopause. Looking from a cross-cultural perspective, however,
we find that this is not always true. For example, many countries
have lower calcium intakes than the US, yet osteoporosis is less
prevalent in these cultures. As an example, the Japanese calcium
intake averages only 540 mgs, yet the US hip fracture rate is twice
that of Japan. Also, many nutrients, not just calcium, are essential
to bone health.
The same holds true for estrogen. Women all over the world experience
a lowering of estrogen at menopause, but not all women experience
osteoporosis. Attributing the causes of osteoporosis to the natural
lowering of estrogen at menopause is too simplistic. The fact
is that Mayan Indian women, Bantu women of Africa and the Japanese
all have lower estrogen levels than US women, but they all experience
much fewer fractures than US women.
A more realistic conception of the
cause of osteoporosis is that of varied bone-depleting factors,
each building one upon the other. Each bone-depleting factor adds
to the others until the total load is more than our bone can bear,
so to speak. The picture to the left depicts many the factors
that can contribute to poor health and osteoporotic fractures.
Next: Rethinking the Best Prevention
& Treatment of Osteoporosis
Extracted from our book, Better
Bones Better Body (Keats 2000) by our Director, Susan E. Brown,
Ph.D., CCN
