A patient came in the other day and told me her mother had been diagnosed with osteoporosis. She wanted to know if it was hereditary and if she were at risk for it too. As I told her, in general, if you’re over 50, female, menopausal, of slight build and weight, you are in the highest risk group for osteoporosis.

However, elderly men and teenagers are also at risk for it as well as men over age 40 who consume too much alcohol and smoke. Anyone whose diet is deficient in calcium and other bone building minerals can also develop osteoporosis. In short, just about anyone can be at risk for osteoporosis! Even though it’s one of those issues associated with getting older, you may be surprised to know that even people in their 20’s can get osteoporosis!

The good news, though, is that osteoporosis can be prevented with the right foods, exercise, some lifestyle changes. Let’s not forget calcium and Vitamin D3, as well as a few other important vitamins and minerals that are our bones best friends. First, let me explain to you a little about what osteoporosis is, and then I’ll tell you about some foods that can tweak your diet in favor of your bones.

What Is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a decrease in the strength and thickness of bone, which results in fragile or brittle bones that are prone to fracture. Any bones of the body can become affected by this condition, but most frequently the hips, spine, wrists and ribs are the most common bones to fracture.

Osteoporosis is diagnosed by bone density testing which involves lying on a table while a scanner slowly moves over your entire body measuring the thickness of your bones. (more…)

Half of all women get osteoporosis by age sixty. 20% of women will have a hip fracture in their lifetime, and 50% of them will never walk again. Men are not immune to this problem. 30% of osteoporosis happens in males, and 50% of men who suffer hip fractures die within one year.

A “New” Disease

Osteoporosis which is so prevalent now, was virtually unheard of a hundred years ago. It was a rarity until the turn-of-the-century. So what happened? Did our genes change in the past one hundred years?

No! Genetic material takes thousands of years to change. The only thing that changed was our environment. Our diet and lifestyle are much different than they were hundred years ago and it has caused an epidemic of osteoporosis. So, what do we do? How can we reverse this process? (more…)

While sprains and strains can occur in almost any of life’s activities, they are often associated with sports and other athletic activities. The additional stress of these activities can cause an injury that may put you on the sidelines for a few weeks, so you will want to take some steps to prevent them from occurring.

Injuries that occur in the muscle tissue or the tissue that connects the muscle to bone (tendon) is called a strain. A strain can occur in most of the skeletal muscles, although some are much more common than others. Extreme strains can rupture a muscle which is an incapacitating injury until healing occurs.

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The largest joint in your body is the knee which supports most of the bodies weight. As a complex joint that can sustain many injuries including trauma, misalignment and degenerative conditions like arthritis.

The more serious injuries require surgery however a majority of minor knee pain can be treated at home with the use of rest and ice packs. You will have seen many athletes with knee injuries using the R.I.C.E, method which stands for “rest, ice, compression and elevation. Stay off the knee and only walk with crutches, apply the ice to control swelling and use a compression elastic bandage but loose enough so that it does not cause pain and finally keep the knee elevated. (more…)

Think you can’t stop that arthritis pain? Great news! You can act now. Get 10 easy and effective arthritis pain relief tips from arthritis experts and make your life with arthritis a little easier now.

1. Protect your joints. Don’t keep your joints in the same position for a prolonged period of time. Balance your rest and work during the day. Use the strongest joints available for the job.

2. Stretch it. Stretching should be part of every arthritis patient’s daily activities. A good stretch helps prevent injuries by warming up muscles and tendons which are more limber and less likely to tear. Spend a minimum ten minutes every day stretching, and work each major muscle group.

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More than 70% of the American population seek help in herbal remedies for joint pain. Muscularities, ligaments and flexible tissue become inflamed and cause extreme pain in the affected joints.

In a number of people, joint pain conditions appear to be connected to food sensitivities or allergies to coarse foods including dairy and wheat. Other people think that foods from the nightshade category, like peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, worsen their situation, while other people don’t notice any link. If you believe particular foods play a role in your joint pain signs, it is all-important to put them to the trial. Remove suspect foods for 1 week and nightshades for a couple of months. Add cut out foods back into your nourishment, one by one, every 4 days. Take down any effects. Throughout such test and error times, be careful to carry on consuming a nutritionally well-balanced diet to aid your body’s therapeutic efforts. It might be essential to do a more comprehensive elimination or test to identify numerous allergenic foods. Ask a nutritionally consultant for advice on how to try this safely and efficiently.

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I will get straight to the point; relief from sciatica is possible, period! This article was written to show you ten different ways to achieve relief from sciatica. Here we go…

#1. Reiki…
The Japanese, being part of the Orientals, know their onions, so to speak. Reiki is a deep breathing technique that promotes self healing which you can learn and use as a method for gaining relief from sciatica.

#2. Rest…
Good old rest is another method to employ to get instant, natural, relief from sciatica. Try to get as much rest as you can during the day.
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Each summer an incredible number of us make the most of fairer weather and longer days to have outside more. Daybreak runs, weekend bicycle rides, and long evening strolls turn out to be more established.

In case you’re one of the numerous who frequently obtain a deep hurt in your buttocks, hip or down your leg once you take up summer pursuits like there’s a high probability that’s coming from a little-known muscle named the piriformis.

It is the piriformis muscle deep inside the posterior side of our hips, along with a few other lateral rotator tissues, which enable your body to help keep from falling over when we walk by shifting our body weight laterally once we lift our feet. (more…)