Is osteoporosis a feminist issue?

[garlicnutter]

I came to this after researching nutritional guidance for a friend with advanced osteoporosis. She won't take my advice. She's a beautiful, bird-like vegan with many food intolerances and food dislikes. She has never eaten a fully-balanced diet.

That led me to become interested in women's (often unconscious) attitudes to food. I found many, many women who automatically give the larger protein portion to the men. I found, of course, thousands of women with long-term eating disorders. I also noticed that, amongst the smaller-portion women, there were many who snack later: this may well be due to protein insufficiency but a yoghurt, crisps or chocolate bar won't compensate nutritionally.

I'm just throwing this out there in case anyone's interested.

Isn't osteoporosis partly hereditary? None of the women I know who suffer from it are vegetarians, nor have they been exposed to rationing in childhood: and some of them are Swedish so have always had a diet very high in calcium (drinking large quantities of milk). They have all led healthy active lifestyles until the condition got in the way.

Cholesterol and collagen are both synthesised in the body.

High intake of animal protein, including dairy increases the amount of calcium the body excretes.

Hmm, I don't know about heredity, though it would seem logical ... am trying to restrain myself from doing a ton of late-night research; it's a bad habit of mine that must STOP!

Blimey, TW, I didn't know Quorn contained egg. Seems a bit self-defeating, no? Thanks for that. (I have no intention of giving up my carnivorous leanings, but it's good to know these things.) Bought some soya mince the other day. It was better than I expected - good for bulking up a sauce.

I'll see whether the library can get 'The Sexual Politics of Meat'.

My brain's aching from trying to understand some proper chemistry tonight.
Not needed to do that in a long time.

That's very interesting Cleverything.

RE: soya, I'd been worried about that too, but have read a few articles along these lines lately - www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/01/anti-soya-brigade-ignore-scaremongering

my udnerstanding (and I am no expert) is that childbearing itself can increase risk of osteoporosis, as the baby takes the calcium. I don't know whether it's possible to replace that calcium during or after pregnancy

My mother has osteoporosis - she has always been on a diet, as long as I remember. Many of the diets were bizarre (there was a year where she seemed to eat only eggs). Going to a restaurant with her was always embarassing for us, as she had a crazy list of foods that she claimed she could not eat.

When she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, she was tested for wheat intolerance, as it can seemingly be a factor. Although we know that all the tests came back as negative, my mother has still found it necessary to cut all gluten from her diet (yes, I know they are not the same thing). As she is still food combining as well as suddenly excluding anything that might possibly contain a trace of gluten, she has a very peculiar and restricted diet.

I am convinced that she has had an eating disorder for as long as I can remember and that her dieting might have been a factor in her developing osteoporosis. I bet that there are many like her.

On the other hand, I've always had an enthusiastic attitude to food, especially that which is high in protein, and I've always been slim. This means that I have been accused of being bulimic on more than one occasion, by women who sit toying with salad leaves, eyeing my plate in restaurants and talking tediously about their food sins. I'd agree with a previous poster that a huge proportion of women seem to have issues with food.

The causes of osteoporosis are given here:
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Osteoporosis/Pages/Causes.aspx

Women are at an even greater risk of developing osteoporosis when:

?they have an early menopause (before the age of 45)
?they have a hysterectomy before the age of 45, particularly when the ovaries are also removed
?their periods are absent for a long time (more than six months) as a result of over-exercising or over-dieting

If you have a disease of the hormone-producing glands, you may be at higher risk of developing osteoporosis.

Other factors that can increase the risk of osteoporosis and broken bones include:

?a family history of osteoporosis
?a parental history of hip fracture

?a low body mass index (BMI of 19kg/m2 or less)
?long-term use of high-dose corticosteroid treatment (widely used for conditions such as arthritis and asthma), which can affect bone strength
?heavy drinking and smoking
?rheumatoid arthritis

?malabsorption problems, as experienced in coeliac disease and Crohn's disease
?some drugs used in breast cancer and prostate cancer treatment which affect hormone levels
?long periods of inactivity, such as long-term bed rest

That page you quote, WG, also says "Women are at greater risk of developing osteoporosis than men. This is because changes in hormone levels can affect bone density. The female hormone oestrogen is essential for healthy bones. After the menopause, the level of oestrogen in the body falls, and this can lead to a rapid decrease in bone density."

It doesn't make sense - how can women be at greater risk than men due to depleted oestrogen, when men have less oestrogen to start with?

But I would suggest that long-term dieting (both deliberate and unconscious) is a factor which distinguishes women from me, and may affect bone density.

.. a factor which distinguishes women from men

Though, as I'm menopausal, perhaps I'm not a woman?? Eeek. Less oestrogen, you see, I'm clearly going to crumble to ashes any minute now.