Bone Health

On April 14, Dr. Julie Woodside, hand surgeon, OrthoCarolina, presented to members on how to keep our bones healthy and strong so they can support us throughout our lives.

We learned that bones are living, growing tissue, mostly made up of collagen. Bones are also made up of proteoglycans (which provide compressive strength), various types of calcium, and proteins to promote mineralization and bone formation.
Your body is constantly cycling through bone being broken down (turnover) and bones forming, in order to control your levels of calcium and phosphate so that your other organs can function properly.

Bone metabolism is regulated by various hormones and steroids found in the body.

While there are factors we cannot control, like aging, there are many factors we can control to boost bone strength, including diet, exercise, body weight, smoking, alcohol intake, and medications.

Calcium and vitamin D are vital to building strong bones. Bones are reactive, the and the more weight they feel, the more pressure they feel, the more they work to strengthen themselves. We want our bones to feel the pressure of exercise, so they can react and get stronger!