Spotlight On: OSTEOPOROSIS

A disease of the skeletal system, Osteoporosis (meaning: bone passageway condition) develops most often in women over the age of 50. From low bone density and low bone mass, this condition may cause bone fractures, height loss, or bone pain among other symptoms. Known as the most undesired symptom, bone fractures, like a hip fracture, in older adults often lead to multiple surgeries for repair. Since bones lose density with age, they eventually fracture more easily.

The primary cause of low bone mass begins with the bones’ need to absorb the mineral calcium and the body’s inability to absorb it as well during older adulthood. Also, certain hormones promote bone growth. For example, estrogen released bountifully with menstruating cycles is scarce after menopause. The lack of estrogen, along with the bones’ inability to absorb enough calcium, leads to a more porous/less dense bone structure.

Though Osteoporosis occurs in the majority of older women, it can occur in men as well. Lowered hormone levels, diets low in calcium, irregular exercise, certain overuse of medications, alcohol or tobacco, and many chronic diseases can put a person at risk for Osteoporosis. Yet, the condition is preventable.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation http://www.nof.org/, the five ways to combat Osteoporosis are as follows:

1. Regular exercise with weights (builds bone strength and mass)
2. Vitamin D and Calcium supplements (the vitamin D helps the bones absorb the Calcium)
3. Get tested for Osteoporosis with a Bone Mineral Density test (a painless test)
4. Don’t smoke or consume alcohol in excess (may worsen bone health)
5. Discuss Osteoporosis with your healthcare provider

There are many ways to treat Osteoporosis if already diagnosed with it. Certain supplements and prescriptions can be taken. These medicines may result in better absorption of calcium or a higher production of estrogen. They also have side effects and risks. So, before taking any supplement, prescription, or beginning one of the top four ways described above to combat Osteoporosis, make sure to talk to your physician first and foremost.

Fashion for Food

A love for fashion can transform the world! The ways in which fashion and giving go hand-in-hand are numerous. Take the FEED bags for instance. These bags contribute to the UN Foundation's World Food Project which supplies nutritious food for children in school in over 70 countries. The project helps solve two issues in one easy way. Children around the world who suffer from malnutrition and hunger are given nutritious food, like Plumpy Nut, that gives them the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy, maturing body to grow properly. Also, it adds reason for children to want to go to school everyday which increases the years a child in a developing country (or developed country) receives education.

Buy a bag and help! The FEED bags have lots of space while some come smaller as pouches. Use them for travel, work, school, or as a handbag. The team on The Feed Project claims they go with everything you wear. Made with burlap and organic cotton, the versatility of a neutral color and the strength of the bags guarantee their longevity and usefulness. Donations from the purchasing of some of these products goes to specific countries such as Guatemala or Haiti. Currently, The Feed Project has partnered with UNICEF for donations of each Guatemalan bag to go toward one full year of healthy supplements for a child in Guatemala. Just read or ask where the donation goes before you get a bag.

Partnered with the FEED Project, the FEED Foundation which started in 2008 has delivered more than 50 million meals to international school feeding programs through the United Nations. To find out more about the food programs the FEED Foundation supports visit The FEED Foundation's website at http://www.thefeedfoundation.org/.

Some children's malnourishment stems from hunger, other's develops from obesity in eating the wrong foods.Malnutrition can lead to Kwashiorkor (abdominal distention, tooth loss, liver enlargement, etc), starvation, heart disease, anemia, obesity, diabetes and many, many more diseases that effect the body systemically. So, malnutrition and hunger effect children here in the United States as well as in other countries where the condition may be more widespread. If fashion is your thing, a FEED tote is a good step toward tackling this public health problem. What one wears can help change what our children eat.