Population-based studies have suggested that such factors as small bones and a Northern European heritage increase osteoporosis risk. But it's not yet clear how those findings might apply to an individual woman sitting in her doctor's office, said Heidi Nelson, an assistant professor of medicine and medical informatics at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Calcium's role Growing evidence of calcium's role in prevention spurred an Institute of Medicine committee in 1997 to advise that adults increase their daily calcium intake by 50 percent. But Bess Dawson-Hughes, coordinator of the National Research Center on Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases at Tufts University, says she doubts that the average American diet contains even half the recommended amount. In reality, many people will need supplementary sources.
Calcium supplements come in more forms than ever.
Orange juice, frozen yogurt, breakfast cereal, candy and milk now contain added calcium. She says it's never too late to benefit from more calcium. In 1997, her lab reported that men and women 65 and older who took calcium supplements were less likely to suffer fractures than those on a placebo. Halting bone loss Back in 1984, estrogen was the only available treatment, and a major thrust of the osteoporosis consensus conference that year was getting more post-menopausal women to take it, McGowan said. Estrogen is good for your bones.