Getting to the bones of your problem

Too often we only consider our skeletons when something breaks. Here, experts advise on some of the reasons we might be feeling a bit brittle

- By EMMA JOHNSON

We don't tend to think about our bone health until there's a problem.

For most of us, the first sign anything is wrong is after a fall that results in a broken bone. Some 50,000 falls leading to fractures occur in the UK each year - and too often what follows is the surprise discovery a person has the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.

Around 3.5 million people are living with the condition, and a further one million have low bone density (osteopenia), putting them at increased risk of painful and potentially life-altering fractures.

The issue is widespread, with one in two women over the age of 50 suffering a fracture from osteoporosis and one in four men. And we're not just talking about the elderly.

Hormone expert Dr Nicky Keay, Honorary Clinical Lecturer at University College London and author of Myths of Menopause, says: "Your skeleton is made up of bones that provide your body with support, structure, stability and protection for vital organs.

"Bones also interact with muscles to enable movement, store minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, and some long bones contain marrow in which new red and white blood cells are made."

Here are key bone-strength stealers that could be raiding your reserves - and how to manage them.

Years of yo-yo dieting:

"Repeatedly losing and regaining weight over many years can reduce your bone density," says Lorna Cooke, dietitian at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland.

"When you restrict food, key hormones needed to maintain bone can be affected. A lack of nutrients such as calcium when following restrictive diets can also lead to long-term deficiencies - because when the body doesn't get enough calcium from food, it takes it from bones, which weakens them over time."