May is National Osteoporosis Awareness month. Osteoporosis, a serious bone-thinning disorder, makes bones fragile and prone to fracture. It has no symptoms and may progress painlessly until a bone breaks. Women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis.

Academy Award winning actress Sally Field ate well, exercised and maintained a physically active lifestyle. But these factors weren’t enough to protect her from osteoporosis and just shy of her 60th birthday, Sally was diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Since that time, she has been treated with medication that slows bone loss, increased her calcium and Vitamin D intake and been followed closely by her doctor. Today, Sally Field is well on her way back to good bone health and recently spoke before members of Congress about the importance of raising awareness about osteoporosis.

“Osteoporosis and low bone mass is a national health issue, threatening more than 44 million Americans age 50 and older,” Field said. But once detected, the disease is treatable and even reversible. A BMD, or bone mineral density test, can detect the thinning of bone that occurs with osteoporosis.

The actress has begun her own campaign sponsored by Roche and GlaxoSmithKline called Rally with Sally for Bone HealthSM. On the Rally with Sally website, women are encouraged to protect their bone health by pledging to:

* Get adequate calcium and vitamin D
* Take their osteoporosis medication as directed
* Exercise to build strength
* Visit their doctors regularly

For more information on osteoporosis and Sally’s campaign:

Rally With Sally For Bone Health

National Osteoporosis Foundation

Postmenopausal women are urged to increase dietary calcium to prevent bone loss and Vitamin D has been shown to be protective against some cancers. But together they may have one additional health benefit. New research has shown that taking calcium in conjunction with Vitamin D supplements may slow or prevent weight gain in postmenopausal women.

During and after menopause, women face a number of new health concerns, not the least of which is bone loss. But the tendency towards weight gain is equally distressing.

The greatest benefit was to women whose calcium was low initially. By increasing their calcium and Vitamin D intakes, they were 11 percent less likely to gain weight than their counterparts who did not consume the recommended amounts of calcium.

More information on the study can be found at Medical News Today.

I was talking to a friend the other day. She was telling me about her new experiences with night sweats and hot flashes, wondering if they signaled the beginning of menopause. “Try soy supplements”, I told her confidently, having read and written about research that indicates soy phytoestrogens cool hot flashes.

I realized that, in writing for Fifty-Something Women, I end up learning a lot of important information and occasionally just some fun facts.

For instance, during coffee breaks at work I often go outside despite the cold to soak up some of the sun’s rays. I figure this will banish the specter of S.A.D. as well as boost my cancer-fighting level of Vitamin D.

I learned how to read my nutrition labels and why doing so can help me avoid Sadness Snacking and the dangers of comfort foods.

It comes in handy too, when I can point out that my second cup of coffee is really a diabetes preventative in disguise or when I mention that the danish I am having with it is only to add those few extra pounds that will stave off menopause symptoms.

Okay, so maybe I also look for a few excuses but everyone needs a few excuses in life if they want to enjoy it at all. Life, as we know, must be taken with a grain of chocolate.

Getting enough Vitamin D3 could reduce breast cancer risk by half and that of colorectal cancer by two-thirds according to a meta-analysis of two studies on Vitamin D.

The data showed that low levels of Vitamin D3 was associated with the highest rates of breast cancer and the risk decreased as blood levels of the vitamin increased. Co-author of one of the studies, Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H. said, “The serum level associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk could be maintained by taking 2,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily plus, when the weather permits, spending 10 to 15 minutes a day in the sun.”

The findings of the study on colorectal cancer were comparable with the risk decreasing for individuals with higher levels of Vitamin D3.

Vitamin D3 can be increased through diet, supplements and exposure to sunlight or UVB. Sun exposure should not be long enough to cause skin to tan or burn. 10 to 15 minutes in midday sunlight with 50% of skin exposed is recommended for light-skinned individuals, darker skin may need up to 25 minutes of exposure.

2 new studies back Vitamin D for cancer prevention