| You may be at risk for osteoporosis, a serious and painful disease that causes loss of bone mass. Find out how to safeguard yourself and your students.
Dance may be one of the best preventive exercises for girls and women susceptible to the bone disease known as osteoporosis, but that does not mean dancers and dance teachers aren't still at risk. In fact, certain habits characteristic of a dancer’s lifestyle may actually increase the chances of developing it. Fortunately, there are ways you can protect yourself and your students.
Healthy bone with normal density
Osteoporotic bone deteriorating
What Is Osteoporosis?
Bone is composed of living tissue and nonliving substances. The living tissues include blood, collagen, nerves and cells such as osteoblasts, which help form new bone, and osteocytes, which eat away bone, causing it to be reabsorbed back into the body. This regeneration process continues throughout your life and, typically, osteoblasts form new bone at a faster rate than osteocytes absorb it. Osteoporosis, however, develops when bones are regenerated at a slower rate than they are reabsorbed, leading to significantly lower bone mass.
It's important to understand that osteoporosis is a disease and not a normal part of aging. While everyone's bone mass will decrease by a small amount over time, especially in postmenopausal women, osteoporosis causes unusually large losses in bone mass that are not only painful, but life-altering. Luckily, there are ways to lower the risk of developing the disease: regular weight-bearing exercise, a nutritious diet rich in calcium and vitamins D and K and ensuring that your body produces enough estrogen.
Weight-Bearing Exercise: Is Teaching Dance Enough?
Combined with a balanced diet, weight-bearing exercise such as dancing and jogging is vital to bone health. While swimming and other non-weight-bearing exercises may increase cardiovascular health, they do little to promote bone growth.
In order to lower the risk of developing osteoporosis, typical exercise guidelines recommend 30 to 60 minutes of weight-bearing activity three to four times per week. Dancers spend far more time than that in class: jumping, leaping and turning. Teaching, on the other hand, depending on how active you are in class, may not be enough to maintain healthy bones. Evaluate how much time you actually spend demonstrating and supplement class with walking, using equipment such as an elliptical trainer or taking another teacher's dance class three to four times per week.
Note, however, that it is possible to exercise too much, whether you're a teacher or a dancer. Food intake must reflect activity levels. Dr. Nicola Keay, an osteoporosis researcher in the United Kingdom, writes, "If you're doing too much exercise and don't eat enough, or if you don't do any exercise and eat lots of fast food, those extremes obviously aren't good." she said. "The message is to get a balance: do enough exercise, eat a reasonable diet and don't go on a crash diet."
Raging Hormones
Low-calorie diets and rigorous exercise regimes are typical of a dancer's lifestyle, but can cause hormone fluctuations, which can lead to osteoporosis later in life. Thin dancers with very low body fat may not produce enough estrogen, which can delay the onset of their menstrual cycles (primary amenorrhea) or cause irregular menstruation (secondary amenorrhea). This is especially dangerous for women between the ages of 20 and 25 because peak bone mass is reached during these years. The more density developed in the early 20s, the less chance of osteoporosis later. Encourage your students with amenorrhea to visit their doctors to find out if hormone therapy is necessary and seek the advice of a nutritionist to make sure caloric intake is sufficiently appropriate for activity levels.
Balancing hormones should be a priority whether you are an adolescent or a pre- or postmenopausal woman because it can prevent or slow osteoporosis, but it may not increase bone mass unless other lifestyle factors also are changed. For example, recent research by Dr. Michelle P. Warren and her colleagues at Columbia University found that hormone therapy does not reverse bone loss in amenorrheic ballet dancers. Warren surmises that the "exercise-induced amenorrhea may be due to a metabolic imbalance caused by a caloric intake that is insufficient for the level of activity." In other words, exercising for hours at a time, while eating as little as possible may actually cause the hormonal imbalances that will eventually lead to osteoporosis.
Bone density tests are a good gauge of bone health and typically are given to postmenopausal women under the age of 65 who have one or more risk factors for osteoporosis. If you or your students have any of the risk factors: such as being thin, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, eating disorders, amenorrhea or early or surgically induced menopause, make sure you request a bone density test, too. The DEXA scan is considered the most accurate.
Eat Your Veggies, Get Some Sun (Carefully)
It is widely known that a calcium-rich diet promotes healthy bones, but vitamins D and K are equally important. Vitamin K is commonly found in dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, studies have shown vitamin K to be as effective as Fosamax-type drugs prescribed to treat osteoporosis.
Vegetables are critical for good bone density for two main reasons. First of all, they neutralize acidity in the body, which tends to increase as you age and is less conducive to bone growth. Secondly, vitamin K acts as 'glue' to bind calcium directly to the bone matrix. An adequate daily amount is typically 90-120 micrograms. For most women, daily leafy green vegetables should suffice, but for borderline or osteoporotic women, it may be a good idea to take supplements.
Vitamin D also helps the body absorb calcium. Since skin produces vitamin D when exposed to sunshine, don't be afraid to spend a little time outdoors. (Don't take this as permission to get sunburned or absorb inappropriate quantities of ultraviolet rays, which can cause skin cancer.) Twenty minutes per day with just your face and arms exposed should be sufficient. During the winter months when you are bundled up in a coat, supplement your diet with foods such as cod liver oil, which contains large quantities of vitamin D. Salmon, eggs and fortified milk are other good sources, as well.
But be cautious. Unlike vitamin K, too much vitamin D can be harmful, though it is impossible to make too much vitamin D through sun exposure. During the summer months, if you spend time outdoors, supplement your diet with fish oil, which has less vitamin D than cod liver oil. Have your vitamin D levels tested if you are concerned that you are getting too much or too little.
The body is continually replacing its cells, and how well that replication process happens is inextricably linked to the food choices you make. In all the preventive measures you take, balance is the operative word. Seek medical advice, eat the right foods and, if you or your students exercise rigorously, make sure that estrogen levels aren't falling dangerously low. Remember that even if you develop osteoporosis, these healthy habits may slow it down.
Top 5 best snacks 1. Water 2. Fruits and vegetables 3. Cheese and yogurt 4. Lean cold-cut sandwiches 5. Health bars
Top 5 worst snacks 1. Candy 2. Greasy food such as doughnuts and hot dogs 3. Processed snacks such as potato chips 4. Soda 5. Sugary, caffeinated energy drinks
Neuromuscular specialist Deborah Vogel directs the Institute for Performance Studies in Ohio and cofounded the Center for Dance Medicine in New York City. Her videos on stretching and strengthening are available at http://www.thebodyseries.com.
As Always...Happy Dancing! |
