If you’ve ever broken a bone and suffered a fragility fracture, it’s important to know that you may be at risk for osteoporosis. Doctors use the term fragility fracture to refer to any broken bone that’s caused by a fall from a standing height or less. Many adults are uncomfortable with the term because they think fragility is reserved for someone who is very old or weak. Even the term fracture is confusing because it doesn’t just mean a cracked bone. A fracture is any broken bone whether it’s just cracked, or shattered and separated.
Any Fracture Could Indicate An Underlying Bone Disorder
If you slip on a rug and smash your shoulder into pieces you might call it a ‘bad fall’ – with the broken bones to prove it – but doctors consider this a fragility fracture. Likewise, if you fall and break a wrist or twist an anklebone, that’s also a fragility fracture. Any bone that breaks from tripping and falling is considered weak until proven otherwise. A healthy person can normally sustain a fall from standing and not have a fracture of any type, so any fracture indicates an underlying bone disorder – like osteoporosis or osteopenia, where the bone structure is weak.
Osteoporosis
The World Health Organization recommends that everyone over 50 be evaluated for osteoporosis if they’ve ever had a fragility fracture, but only one in five actually get tested. That’s due in part to the denial that a ‘bad fall’ is in fact a fragility fracture.
The World Health Organization defines osteoporosis as very low bone density, with a T-score worse than -2.5 on a DXA scan, also called DEXA scan. However, a bone density score between -1.0 and -2.5 is still considered low bone density, although the condition is typically classified as osteopenia rather than osteoporosis. For more on this distinction read “Osteopenia vs. Osteoporosis”. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis say that fragility fractures should be taken into consideration along with bone density score.
The medical diagnosis of osteoporosis is more serious than just having low bone density, because osteoporosis increases the risk of additional fractures – and the healing process becomes more complicated and less successful with each fracture. The body steals nutrients from other bones in order to heal a broken bone. Silical Boost is specifically formulated to support natural healing during the bone healing and repair process following a break or surgery because it provides additional vitamins and nutrients that balance this process.
A woman between the ages of 20-50 who breaks a bone for any reason has a 75% increased risk of another break after the age of 50. So, any broken bone is a warning sign of future trouble. When osteoporosis is the definite diagnosis, the long-term consequences of low bone density have already started to take their toll, and vigorous management – beyond nutrition, exercise and even supplements – is needed. Half of all women, and one in five men over the age of 50 have low bone density, but not everyone will develop osteoporosis. Many other risk factors including family history of osteoporosis, exercise routine, dietary choices and lifestyle habits like smoking and alcohol are taken into consideration with low bone density.
However, low bone density is a call to action to take your bone health seriously to avoid full-blown osteoporosis. In addition to eating a healthy diet, you should think about adding a supplement that includes more than just calcium and vitamin D. Silicon is essential for bone strength – both for new bone formation and for maintenance of mature bone. Silicon in Silical System also works with other nutrients like magnesium, vitamin K2, boron and more – to support bone health. If you’ve ever had a broken bone, seriously consider adding Silical System to your routine for bone care.
