“A Caregivers Suggestion near Westfield, NJ”
Have you heard from your elderly dad’s doctor that he might have osteoporosis? Even though you might think that’s a condition only for older women, it’s actually still possible for men to get it, too. As your father gets older, he can experience similar loss of bone mass and bone density. It’s predicted that during the next 10 years, 20 million elderly men in America will have brittle and thinning bones. Women do often face this condition earlier in their lives because of menopause and the accompanying hormonal changes, which also makes for a faster decline than what men experience. After about age 65, both men and women lose their bone mass at about the same rate.
What is it like to be a Man with Osteoporosis?
It does affect men differently. Science has found a link between unusually low levels of testosterone and having osteoporosis. If your elderly father has been taking drugs for prostate cancer, they’re likely affecting his testosterone levels, which can lead to losing bone mass. About one in four men over 50 years old can expect to break a bone caused by osteoporosis over his lifetime, compared to women who are twice as likely. There are many things you can do to help avoid this, because fractures are serious injuries for the elderly and can affect the rest of their lives.
Here are some things you can suggest to your dad to help:
- Do exercise that will promote muscle growth and support any weakening bones
- Steer clear of too much salt. It depletes your calcium levels, which is the main mineral that bones use to stay strong. The average American diet is much too heavy in salt from processed foods as well as added salt for taste.
- Get rid of your soda habit. Carbonated drinks like Coca-Cola and other soda pops, even sparkling waters, have phosphoric acid which speeds the rate that calcium leaves your body. Avoid these bone-dissolving drinks as much as possible!
- Caffeine isn’t that great, either. When drinking excessive number of cups (4 or more) of coffee, tea or soda that contains caffeine, you’re leaching calcium from your bones.
- When you drink alcohol, you’re essentially drinking a calcium blocker. It prevents most minerals and bone friendly osteoblasts from your diet so your body can’t even use them from the good food you eat.
- Too much vitamin A might be something you’re not aware of that contributes to bone loss. This vitamin is from high fat dairy foods, liver, and eggs. This form of vitamin A interferes with your absorption of vitamin D, causing bone loss.
It is common knowledge that women are told to take more vitamin D with their calcium to prevent having osteoporosis, but men should actually take lower doses of it. If you’re having trouble managing vitamins, medications and a healthy diet, hiring home care providers to help care for your senior father would really help you out.
If you or an aging loved on need a break from caregiving near Westfield NJ, call the caring staff at Helping Hands Home Care. 908-418-4299 .
Providing Home Care Services in all of Northern and Central NJ, including Clark, Westfield, Crawford, Scotch Plains, Rahway, Linden, Summit, Edison,Elizabeth, Mountainside and the surrounding areas.
After graduating from Seton Hall University with a BS in finance Helping Hands Homecare’s Owner / President, Robert D’Arienzo, went to work on Wall St. for six years. However, after Robert’s grandmother became ill with stomach cancer Robert and his family needed to find assistance in the home for her. After many trials and tribulations Robert could see that there was a great need for quality home care services here in NJ and loved the idea of being able to assist other families who were going through what his family went through with his beloved grandmother.
Thus, Robert had found his passion. After almost a year of preparation Robert opened Helping Hands Homecare in 2003. Robert wanted Helping Hands Homecare to focus on providing the highest quality of caregivers, exceptional customer service, and providing a service that familys could depend on in their time of need. Since then Helping Hands has assisted hundreds of individuals with the simplest of needs to more complex cases while preserving those standards set out many years ago.
Robert is a Google Verified Author
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