7 MAJOR RISK FACTORS

Think you're safe because you're only 26? Suffer from one or more of the following and your bones could be two or three times as old as you are.

1. eating disorders Since their nutrition is so poor, anorexics and bulimics deprive their bodies of calcium, bone's major building block. Anorexics often don't have enough body fat to menstruate, so their estrogen levels drop, too, increasing bone breakdown. This doube whammy occurs when bone density should be still rising, so these women may never attain a normal peak bone mass, says Ethel Siris, M.D., director of the National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment research program.
2. body size it is believed that thin women with smal frames have lower bone mineral density, a measure of bone health.
3. family history Researchers aren't sure osteoporosis is genetic, but it seems to run in families. Having a mother or sister with it puts you at risk.
4. erratic periods/early menopause (whether from natural causes or a hysterectomy) "Having irregular periods shos a lack of progesterone, a hormone needed along with estrogen for bone health," explains Morris Notelovitz, M.D., Ph.D., a consultant in omen's medicine in Gainesville, Fla., and author of Stand Tall: Every Woman's Guide to Preventing and Treating Osteoporosis (Triad Publishers, 1998). "Estrogen reduces the rate of bone loss, while progesterone, when in the presence of estrogen, stimulates new bone formation." Athletes beware: Rigorous training and low body fat can trigger irregular periods or amenorrhea.
5. some diseases Condition like hyperthyroidism, hyperparathyroidism and chronic kidney, lung and gastrointestinal disorders are risk factors.
6. long-term use of certain medications "The No. 1 culprit is corticosteroids given to suppress inflammation," notes Laird D. Madison, M.D., Ph.D., of the Center for Endocrinology, Metabolism nad Molecular Medicine at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. Steriod drugs prescribed for diseases like epilepsy, severe asthma, severe allergies and autoimmune diseases like lupus can also have an effect, says Madison, adding that nonsteroidal drugs prescribed for these diseases do not pose problems in terms of bone loss.
7. excessive doses of thyroid hormone Normal replacement dosages for hypohyroid patients are perfectly safe, Madison assures, although superhigh doses prescribed by a doctor in certain rare circumstances can have an effect if prolonged.