Taking calcium for osteoporosis

 Exercises, including weight-bearing exercise (walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing, or lifting weights), aerobics, and resistance exercises are all effective in increasing bone mineral density and strength of the spine. Start out at an exercise level that you are comfortable with and work up gradually. To be most effective, weight-bearing exercises should be done for 45 to 60 minutes at least 4 days a week. If you stop exercising, your bones weaken and may be more likely to break. Walking also increases bone mineral density of the hip.13

Along with exercise and diet, your health professional will recommend that you not smoke and limit alcohol to no more than 2 drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women.

In some cases, medicines are prescribed to protect against bone loss. These medicines include raloxifene (Evista), bisphosphonates such as risedronate (Actonel) and alendronate (Fosamax), and parathyroid hormone (Forteo). It's important to take calcium and vitamin D supplements along with any medicines you take for osteoporosis. For more information on taking bisphosphonates, see:

    Should I take bisphosphonate medications for osteoporosis?

If you take corticosteroids longer than 6 months for asthma or other conditions, you may be at greater risk for developing steroid-induced osteoporosis. If you begin to have bone loss, you may need to take osteoporosis medicines, such as bisphosphonates, while you are taking steroids.

In select cases, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is given to women to slow bone loss from osteoporosis. The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study found that HRT decreased the risk of hip fracture, but also led to small increases in a woman's risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke, blood clots (pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis), and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Estrogen alone (ERT), used for women who have had a hysterectomy, was found to increase a woman's risk of stroke, but it did not appear to affect rates of breast cancer or heart attack. Many experts recommend that long-term hormone replacement therapy only be considered for women with a significant risk of osteoporosis that outweighs the risks of taking HRT or ERT.