Mystery Solved

Well, the verdict is in.  And, yes, I am Osteopenic.  For those of you non-medi people out there, that means low bone density.  Doesn't mean I'm unhealthy, of course.  Because everyone is at risk of medical problems.  I just didn't realize I was particularly at risk for this one.  I feel a little silly, of course, being a doc and all.  But, then again, I'm not a Sports Med doc either.  A lesson learned.  And maybe I can ed-u-ma-cate others through all of this.

I've always prided myself on being in good physical fitness.  In most recent years, if I must say so myself, I've been in pretty tip-top shape.  Between marathons or hours of riding, I am an excerise fanatic.  No flabby here.  (Although, for all of you females out there, I still suffer from the same flashes of feeling "fat".)  Even with no exercise for 2 months, I haven't really gained much weight, although I have lost muscle mass, whatever that is worth.  But Matt is haggling me to get on the rehab road, so this week, I've gotten the bug back.

So, what makes me at risk?  Well, for one, Cycling.  As I've blogged before, 63% of cyclists are osteopenic.  That includes men and women.  At least part of this is from the lack of weight bearing exercise.  Obviously my 1 (or occasionally 2 to 3) days of running every week didn't cut it. (Oh for the days of 30-50 mile running weeks.)  The other is what is called the "Female Athlete Triad".  Including, low estrogen, low bone density, and energy low diet.  Women who exercise a lot, tend to turn normal body cycles off which leads to low estrogen.  That can have it's benefits, but... (you'll probably understand this if you are a woman).  They also tend to  be very food conscious - low fat diet all the way, baby!  Both of these (estrogen and diet) factor into low body fat.  Did you know that for a female althete, body fat content is considered to be less than 17%?  Well, the last time I was checked, I was in the 13% range.  Flabby, nope.  But so unfair, since some male athletes get to 2-3%, and they don't have such troubles.   And of course, the 2 former tendencies, can lead to lower bone-forming abilities.  Further, most "younger" women, don't think of taking calcium supplementation PLUS Vitamin D; that's for old women, right?

Well, this is my plug for all of you female athletes out there.  (And men too: it can't hurt.)  Take your Calcium: at least 500 mg/day, and 1000 mg is even better.  And definitely take your Vitamin D: 800-1000 mg/day for good measure (even if you do get sun exposure).

So, mystery solved: low bone density increases your risk of fracture.  So if you crash, you break, and in my case, you break into many pieces.  Lessoned learned and healing is in process.