I'm all about bones these days. You know my brand as a doc who is constantly harping about optimizing your body composition--- strong bones, toned muscle and minimal fat, especially in the belly.

 

Here's a little dandy I want to share with you about the bones issue. Nothing scares a woman (or man) more than falling and breaking a bone, especially a hip. We value our independence. We love to continuously do for others, the penultimate care givers. So, we need to protect those precious bones at all costs. You need to know if you're at risk.  If you're a woman over the age of 50 and want to know what your risk of breaking your hip is going to be over the next five years, log onto: http://hipcalculator.fhcrc.org . The Womens Health Initiative has developed a new way of assessing risk without doing a bone scan, or DEXA. This calculator is based on testing done with over 60,000 women. It's new and really hasn't been tested in the general population, and its most useful for women with normal bone density for age who want to know their risk. Risk factors that are taken into consideration in the calculator are: age, postmenopausal fractures, a moms hip fracture, low weight, smoking and relying on ones arms to get out of a chair.  You can monitor the rewards of changing your lifestyle on your risk for hip fracture as well. Try it!