NEWS Thursday , January 26th, 2006 CHANDIGARH
Eat right and exercise to fight menopause blues
Chandigarh, January 25: A healthy dose of calcium and exercise before you touch 25 can go a long way in combating menopause. Bone mass loss is one of the major manifestations of menopause. Postmenopausal women comprise about 80 per cent of the population suffering from osteoporosis. Such persons are vulnerable to fracturing their bones, especially the hip bone, the vertebral column and the wrist.
It is till the age of 25 that the original bone mass of the body develops. And it is to this value that the bone mass comes down once menopause sets in. ‘‘The maximum loss of bone mass is within two years of setting in of menopause,’’ explains Dr Nirja Chawla, secretary of the Indian Menopause Society, Chandigarh Chapter.
What is left behind after the depletion is the original bone mass. So those who have greater value of bone mass at a younger age will have a better chance of surviving the troublesome menopause.
The daily intake of calcium for a normal healthy woman is about 800 mg per day. This goes up for females below 18, pregnant women, breast feeding mothers and those who have just reached menopause.
Around 500 mg of calcium in a day needs to be consumed through dietary intake and a large portion of this (415 mg) can be taken in by having one cup of milk every day.
But just consuming calcium through food and supplements is not the solution. Exercise is equally important to utilize the all important calcium. ‘‘It is only by exercising that you can route the calcium to the body part being exercised. So, regular walks will increase the supply of calcium to the hip area. Therefore it is essential to adopt a holistic exercise programme,” says Dr Chawla.
Estrogen deficiency appears to be the most important cause of this bone loss and other problems like increased risk of coronary artery disease. However, Dr Chawla dispels one myth about menopause— that it induces depression in women.
‘‘A number of major events may take place in a woman’s life around 50 – the age at which menopause sets in. She may have lost a parent, or her husband. Her children are at an age when they move out of the house. This is also the time when she retires from her professional life. Such social reasons may depress her,’’ says Dr Chawla, clarifying that depression is not an off shoot of menopause.
Regular aerobic exercise may be helpful and many depressed people have treated themselves, often unknowingly, by exercising regularly.
To dispel all myths and make women aware about menopause and related issues and advances, the Indian Menopause Society is organizing a national conference at Bhargava Auditorium, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, on February 4 and 5. Dr Nirja Chawla is the Organizing Secretary.