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Osteoporosis 101

[MAY 1, 2001]  Osteoporosis literally means "porous bone." It is a painful and crippling disease that develops very slowly, gradually weakening the bones and skeletal structure. Over many years, bones become thin and brittle, susceptible to breaks, cracks and fractures. Osteoporosis can affect anyone regardless of sex or race. Today, approximately 25 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis. Because osteoporosis develops so slowly, it can take years before people realize they have it. By then it can be too late.

Osteoporosis has many causes, both controllable and uncontrollable. Some controllable risk factors include inadequate calcium intake, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, consuming a lot of soft drinks or beverages with caffeine, and excessive alcohol consumption. Some uncontrollable risk factors include having a small-framed, small-boned body, being a female, family history of osteoporosis, and menopause.

There are several things people can do to keep their bones strong and help prevent osteoporosis:

  • Exercise regularly. Regular weight-bearing exercise stimulates bone formation. Good exercise choices include walking, running, jumping rope, dancing and weight lifting.

  • Stop smoking and limit caffeine, alcohol, and soft drinks. Smoking lowers the sex hormones which stimulate bone formation. Caffeine and alcohol increase calcium loss through urine. Soft drinks contain phosphates which block calcium absorption.

  • Eat a nutritionally balanced diet from the five food groups: milk (three to four servings), meat (two to three servings), fruit (two to four servings), vegetables (three to five servings) and grains (six to 11 servings).

  • Ask your doctor about estrogen replacement therapy. With the onset of menopause comes a sharp decrease in estrogen levels, which contributes to a change in calcium balance and a rapid decrease in bone density. Women lose 10 to 15 percent of their bone mass in the first 10 years after menopause.

  • Eat a calcium-rich diet. Our bodies cannot make calcium, so we must get it from our diet. Calcium from your diet provides the nourishment to feed your bones throughout life.

 

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Lack of sufficient dietary calcium during the teen-age years as well as the age period 20-35 can set the stage for developing osteoporosis. This is a critical period when the bones are increasing in mass, strength and hardness. By age 20, a person has probably reached his or her full adult height, but the bones continue to grow until the mid-30s. People of all age ranges have different calcium recommendations.

Children (ages 1-10) should get 800 to 1,200 milligrams per day. Teenagers and young adults (ages 11-24) should get 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams per day. Adults and postmenopausal women on estrogen should get 1,000 milligrams per day. Adults over 65 and postmenopausal women not on estrogen should get 1,500 milligrams per day.

There are a variety of foods that can be consumed within your diet to reach your calcium recommendations. Milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding, ice cream and calcium-enriched juices are just a few. You can also add nonfat dry milk to most foods, drinks and soups. Putting a slice of cheese on a sandwich, having cheese pizza, putting cheese on your vegetables, and adding milk instead of water to your oatmeal, hot chocolate or soups are all good ways to get your calcium.

May is National Osteoporosis Prevention Month. Help spread the word and prevent this silent disease from happening to you or someone you know.

For more information about osteoporosis contact your physician, call the Logan County Health Department at (217) 735-2317 or visit the website at www.logancountyhealth.org..

[Information used in this article was provided by
the St. Louis District Dairy Council.]


Honors & Awards

Beta Sigma Phi awards car seat to Atlanta woman

[APRIL 18, 2001]  Beta Sigma Phi’s Xi Mu Gamma chapter awarded a Century booster seat to Nancy Vannoy of Atlanta at the Health Fair on March 17. The Xi Mu Gamma chapter sponsored a fair booth promoting the need for older children to be in booster seats. Contrary to state law, which only requires children to be in booster seats until they are 4 years old or 40 pounds, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety indicates that children are not sufficiently protected with seat belts until they reach 80 pounds. All children under 80 pounds should be in an appropriate car seat.


Announcements

Mobile health unit schedule

The Rural Health Partnership has announced the schedule for its mobile health unit. Effective Feb. 1, 2001, the unit will run as follows:

 

Morning: 9-11 a.m.

 

 

Afternoon: 1-3:30 p.m.

Monday

1st and 3rd

Hartsburg

1st and 3rd

Emden

 

2nd and 4th

San Jose

2nd and 4th

Greenview

Tuesday

Weekly

Chestnut

Weekly

Mount Pulaski

Wednesday

Weekly

New Holland

Weekly

Middletown

Thursday

1st, 2nd, 3rd

Elkhart

Weekly

Atlanta

4th

Friendship Manor-Lincoln

Friday

1st, 2nd, 4th

Latham

1st

Beason

     

2nd and 4th

Broadwell

 

3rd

Maintenance/ special events

3rd

Maintenance/
special events

The mobile health unit does not operate on the following dates/holidays during 2001:  Feb. 19 (President’s Day), April 13 (Good Friday), May 28 (Memorial Day), July 4 (Independence Day), Sept. 3 (Labor Day), Oct. 8 (Columbus Day), Nov. 12 (Veterans Day), Nov. 22-23 (Thanksgiving break), and Dec. 24 - Jan. 1, 2002 (Christmas break).

For more information on the mobile health unit schedule and services, contact Dayle Eldredge at (217) 732-2161, Ext. 409.


This family resource list to save and use is provided by the Healthy Communities Partnership (732-2161, Ext. 409) and the Healthy Families Task Force.         

Resources for Logan County families

Agency

Phone number

Address

911

911 (Emergencies)
732-3911 (Office -- non-emergency)

911 Pekin St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital

732-2161

315 Eighth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Aging (Department of)

785-3356

421 E. Capitol, #100
Springfield, IL 62701-1789

American Cancer Society

546-7586 (24 hour)

1305 Wabash, Ste. J
Springfield, IL 62704

American Red Cross

732-2134
1-800-412-0100

125 S. Kickapoo
Lincoln, IL 62656

Catholic Social Services

732-3771

310 S. Logan
Lincoln, IL 62656

Chamber of Commerce

735-2385

303 S. Kickapoo St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Community Action (CIEDC)

732-2159

1800 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Community Child Care Connection

525-2805
1-800-676-2805

1004 N. Milton Ave.
Springfield, IL 62702-443

Crisis Pregnancy Center

735-4838

513 Pulaski St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

DCFS (Department of Children & Family Services)

735-4402
1-800-252-2873
(crisis hotline)

1100 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Heartland Community College GED Program

735-1731

620 Broadway St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Hospice Care of Illinois

1-800-342-4862
(24 hour)
732-2161, Ext. 444

720 N. Bond
Springfield, IL 62702

Housing Authority

732-7776
732-6312 (24 hour)

1028 N. College St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Illinois Breast & Cervical Cancer Program

735-2317
1-800-269-4019

LCHD - 109 Third St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Illinois Department of Public Health

782-4977

535 W. Jefferson
Springfield, IL 62761

Illinois Employment & Training Center (JTPA)

735-5441

812 Lincoln Ave.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Legal Assistance Foundation

(217) 753-3300
1-800-252-8629

730 E. Vine St., Ste. 214
Springfield, IL 62703

Library - Atlanta

(217) 648-2112

100 Race St.
Atlanta, IL 61723

Library - Elkhart

(217) 947-2313

121 E. Bohan
Elkhart, IL 62634

Library - Lincoln

732-8878

725 Pekin St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Library - Mount Pulaski

792-5919

320 N. Washington
Mount Pulaski, IL 62548

Lincoln Area YMCA

735-3915

319 W. Kickapoo St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Lincoln/Logan Food Pantry

732-2204

P.O. Box 773
Lincoln, IL 62656

Lincoln Parents’ Center

735-4192

100 S. Maple
Lincoln, IL 62656

Lincoln Park District

732-8770

1400 Primm Rd.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Logan County Department of Human Services (Public Aid)

735-2306

1550 Fourth St., P.O. Box 310
Lincoln, IL 62656

Logan County Health Department

735-2317

109 Third St., P.O. Box 508
Lincoln, IL 62656

Logan Mason Mental Health

735-2272
1-888-832-3600
(crisis line)

304 Eighth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Logan-Mason Rehabilitation Center

735-1413

760 S. Postville Dr.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Oasis (Senior Citizens of Logan County)

732-6132

501 Pulaski St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Project READ

735-1731

620 Broadway St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Salvation Army

732-7890

1501 N. Kickapoo
Lincoln, IL 62656

Senior Services of Central Illinois

732-6213
1-800-252-8966
(crisis line)

109 Third St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

Sojourn Shelter & Service Inc.

732-8988
(217) 726-5200 (24-hour hotline)

1800 Westchester Blvd.
Springfield, IL 62704

U. of I. Division of Specialized Care for Children

524-2000

1-800-946-8468

421 S. Grand Ave. West, 2nd Floor
Springfield, IL 62704

U. of I. Extension Service

732-8289

122 S. McLean St.
Lincoln, IL 62656

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