Diana Moran - Beating Osteoporosis: The Facts, The Treatments, The Exercises

Contents

I would like to thank the following people and organisations for their help and encouragement shown to me whilst writing Beating Osteoporosis .

A very special thank you to The Royal Osteoporosis Society, for their reliable information and superb advice (more of which at www.theros.org.uk).

In particular I would like to thank Kate Groves, ROS Fundraising and Communications, for her constant support. My thanks also to Fizz Thompson, former Clinical and Operations Director, for her giving me her time, information and encouragement.

I would also like to thank Professor Dawn Skelton, Director of LLT and Professor of Ageing and Health at Glasgow Caledonian, for her advice regarding exercise. For her guidance regarding nutrition, my thanks go to Prof Sue Lanham-New, Professor at the School of Bioscience & Medicine, University of Surrey.

A huge thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing, for their continuing support and encouragement. In particular to my Publisher, Charlotte Croft, and to my Editor, Allie Collins, for their belief in me.

And finally, I wish to thank my agent, Tony Fitzpatrick, for his constant support, guidance, efficiency and humour as we worked through this interesting project together.

My interest in the bone disease osteoporosis was fuelled by a painful accident. My career in the world of fitness and well-being spans more than four decades, but back in 1993 I slipped and fell heavily while skating with friends at an ice rink in Poole, Dorset. I was immediately taken to Poole Hospital A&E, where I was diagnosed and treated for a Colles fracture, a fracture of the wrist that is typical of osteoporosis. At the time I was aged 53 and osteoporosis was not diagnosed. However, I soon found out that such fractures are painful, and can cause both disability and a loss of self-esteem, significantly affecting quality of life and physical activity.

As somebody with a knowledge of exercise, I appreciated that the general public needed information about how to build strong bones through exercise and which exercises are safe. So, a few months later, I was particularly interested to be approached by the co-founders of a new charity, based at Poole and Bournemouth hospitals. Knowing of my interest in health and fitness through my work as the Green Goddess on BBCs Breakfast Time , they invited me to become President of Osteoporosis Dorset. I was honoured and accepted, and have continued in my role for 30 years.

I am also proud to have been an Ambassador for the past 10 years for The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), which carries out research into the disease, and gives advice and support to osteoporotic patients throughout the UK. As the only UK-wide charity dedicated to ending the pain and suffering caused by osteoporosis, they are there for anyone affected by the condition, providing help and support.

An increasing number of people, both men and women, are affected by osteoporosis, and I know just how beneficial the charities are, with the advice and support they offer. Knowledge empowers those of us with bone issues to manage our bone health more effectively. Understanding the condition and knowing more about the treatments available can transform our quality of life, and this is particularly true for frail and vulnerable older people. The ROS telephone helpline service ( see ) provides information and support, and a network of support groups, information leaflets and books are available to reduce the impact of fractures.

Now aged 80, and like many women of a similar age, I have been diagnosed with osteopenia. Osteopenia is best described as bone density that is between the lower end of the normal range and the osteoporosis range. Most people who are diagnosed with osteopenia are recommended to consider some lifestyle changes to keep their bones strong and to help reduce the chances of their bone density dropping to within the osteoporosis range in the future. Sometimes a person who is within the osteopenic range and who has easily broken a bone may be advised to follow a drug treatment because they will be at higher risk of breaking a bone.

Having presented with osteopenia myself, I decided it was important to find out all I could in order to help myself maintain bone strength, and to discover what drugs, treatments and exercises help delay the onset of osteoporosis. I have decided to share my findings with you in this book. And I shall heed my own advice and look to the two organisations I am involved with for further help and information, as and when I need it ( see Further Information, ).

Diana Moran, 2019

We all know that regular physical activity is very important for general health and good bone strength, and Beating Osteoporosis is packed with useful information and suggestions for how to exercise. However, on the days when time is short, we recommend you consider the following:

Take the stairs and not the lift or escalator. As you get stronger, increase your speed to a little jog.

Park your car at the far end of the supermarket car park to make you walk that bit further.

Buy a really good backpack, properly supportive and well positioned, for carrying shopping, or add a small load when you are walking. This will increase the pull on your muscles and bones to make them stronger.

Use bags of coins in a jacket or top with lots of pockets to create your own weighted vest to exercise in.

Learn some balance exercises, such as standing on one leg until you wobble and then shift to the other. The wobble is good it challenges your balance and improves it! Do them when you are waiting for the kettle to boil or the toast to pop up.

If you are standing and waiting at the bus stop or watching a football match on the sidelines, and you have good balance, do some low-level jumps just a few inches off the ground.

As you start to sit down, stop for a moment, before your bottom reaches the chair. Hold that position for a moment and feel your muscles working.

If you are less able to exercise, try to make sure you dont sit for too long. Stand up whenever the adverts come on the TV at the end of a programme, you reach the end of a chapter of your book, or you hear a text come through on your phone. If you can, stamp your feet 10 times too!

If you enjoy swimming, invest in small water paddles which can be strapped to your hands when swimming to provide greater pull on the muscles and help maintain bone strength.

If you can, use your wrists to lift yourself up out of the pool instead of using the steps take your paddles off first!

Try a jog/walk walk for two minutes, do 10 (or 20) jogging steps, walk for two minutes and so on. Aim for at least 50 jogging steps during your walk. If you have had spinal fractures or are breaking other bones easily, do lower-impact activities like brisk walking, especially if you still have pain.

There are lots of things you can do in your everyday routine to strengthen muscles and build bone strength. If you need help, you can ask your GP for a referral to a physiotherapist to get you started and advise which exercises are best for you.

We suggest exercising with a friend or family member to keep you motivated and make it enjoyable. Set aside a time at least once a week when you work through the exercises together. Have some music on, eat together afterwards look forward to it!