After getting up, my legs cramp from time to time, climbing a staircase causes pain in my waist and legs, and bending over to pick things up has become abnormally difficult... As people age, these symptoms appear one after another, and behind all this is osteoporosis. According to statistics, 70 million people in our country currently suffer from osteoporosis, and 40% of women are at risk of osteoporotic fractures. However, for the treatment of osteoporosis, many people believe that simply supplementing calcium is all that is needed. Professor Shen Jie, director of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, said: "For patients with osteoporosis, if they only take calcium and vitamin D, even more calcium will be lost. In outpatient clinics, more than half of the public have the misconception that supplementing calcium is equivalent to treating osteoporosis."
Among women over 50, one in three has osteoporosis.
"Because the early symptoms are not obvious, many middle-aged and elderly people often wait until they have a fracture to realize they have osteoporosis," Director Shen Jie pointed out. "Osteoporosis is silently invading hundreds of millions of middle-aged and elderly people, and the incidence rate is increasing year by year. A report from the International Osteoporosis Foundation shows that among people over 50, one in three women and one in five men may suffer from an osteoporotic fracture."
"The most significant harm of osteoporosis is causing fractures in middle-aged and elderly friends, with hip fractures being the main type. Although a fracture is not a big deal for young people, it is extremely serious for the middle-aged and elderly. A report from the International Osteoporosis Foundation shows that the mortality rate within one year of a hip fracture is 20-24%. And the patients' quality of life significantly decreases: 40% of patients cannot walk independently, 60% of patients still need help one year after a hip fracture, and 33% of patients lose their ability to live independently or enter nursing homes after a hip fracture."
Can supplementing calcium and drinking bone broth treat osteoporosis?
As the weather turned cooler, Auntie Sun's calf often cramped, often waking up from a sound sleep in the middle of the night with pain, and she had to rub it hard with her palm to relieve it. "I'm lacking calcium, and I'm prone to fractures!" Sensing the severity of her condition, she went to the hospital for a check-up a few days ago and was diagnosed with osteoporosis and needed to supplement her bones with calcium. So, she bought a lot of pork bones from the market and boiled them into soup to drink every day. "After drinking bone broth for a few months, I won't be lacking calcium anymore!"
Many middle-aged and elderly friends think that osteoporosis is a minor issue, or they simply prevent and treat it by taking calcium tablets or drinking bone broth. Professor Shen introduced that clinically, more than half of the residents have misconceptions about osteoporosis, choosing only simple treatment methods like calcium supplementation to treat it.
Myth 1: Is bone broth a "natural supplement" to prevent osteoporosis?
To prevent fractures, you must first treat osteoporosis. So, is drinking bone broth really helpful for treating osteoporosis? The answer is almost no! Professor Shen Jie explained: "Bone broth is rich in protein and fat, which is beneficial to health to a certain extent, but you cannot achieve the goal of supplementing calcium by simply drinking bone broth. The calcium content in bone broth is minimal, and it lacks vitamin D, which promotes calcium absorption. That is to say, without the help of vitamin D, drinking it is in vain. Moreover, if the elderly absorb the fat in bone broth in large quantities, it can lead to other health problems."
Myth 2: Supplementing calcium is equivalent to treating osteoporosis
Since the cause of osteoporosis is the loss of bone mass due to calcium deficiency, is taking calcium tablets enough? Professor Shen Jie said, "Some people think that osteoporosis treatment is just about supplementing calcium and vitamin D. In fact, this is far from enough; medication is also needed. Simply supplementing calcium cannot relieve the pain caused by osteoporosis. Supplementing calcium is like painting a wall; its role is equivalent to basic maintenance and cannot fundamentally improve the loss of bone mass and symptoms like pain. It is also necessary to take drugs that inhibit bone absorption and promote bone formation.
In addition, it is also necessary to remind patients with osteoporosis that excessive calcium supplementation can also cause osteoporosis. It may interfere with the absorption and utilization of other trace elements in the body and may also lead to hypercalcemia, soft tissue calcification, kidney stones, constipation, and even increase the risk of heart attack and prostate cancer.