When it comes to osteoporosis, many people immediately associate it with “calcium deficiency”. It seems that advertising has greatly increased the popularity of “calcium” and the awareness of calcium deficiency has been deeply rooted in people’s hearts. However, many middle-aged and elderly people have taken various kinds of calcium supplements on their own, but the effect of preventing osteoporosis is not ideal. For the reason that osteoporosis is not simply “lack of calcium”.
According to the survey report of the Society of Osteoporosis and Bone Mineral Diseases of the Chinese Medical Association, there are more than 60 million osteoporosis patients in China, and about 120 million middle-aged and elderly people need to take measures to prevent and treat it. We have conducted a survey on the middle-aged and elderly population over 50 years old in Wuhan area, about 25% of middle-aged and elderly people suffer from osteoporosis. As the population ages, the incidence of osteoporosis will increase.
According to the definition of the World Health Organization, osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by reduced bone mass, destruction of bone tissue microstructure, increased bone fragility, and susceptibility to fracture. Decreased bone mass refers to a decrease in both bone minerals and bone collagen and protein, not just a lack of calcium.
From the current drugs mainly used for the treatment of osteoporosis, calcium is the basic drug, but it does not target the cause of osteoporosis; estrogen can prevent and control postmenopausal osteoporosis; mikacalcitol, bontrin, and fosamax can treat various types of osteoporosis in old age, but long-term use has different degrees of side effects. In recent years, according to the theory of “kidney is the master of bone” in Chinese medicine, many experts in China have used kidney tonics to treat osteoporosis with good results. This treatment has a distinctive feature, that is, it can improve osteoporosis symptoms such as weakness, back and leg pain, waist and knee soreness significantly and rapidly, and many patients have their clinical symptoms relieved or disappeared even before the osteoporosis test indexes have significantly improved, and side effects rarely occur.
Why can kidney tonic herbs prevent and treat osteoporosis? Scholars have used various advanced experimental instruments and methods to investigate the mechanism of action of the famous Chinese medicine formula “Liu Wei Di Huang Wan” (formula: dry groundnut, shamrock, Chinese yam, poria, zedoary, danpi) to prevent osteoporosis, and found that the mechanism of action of this formula to treat osteoporosis is different from that of the Western medicine. It was found that the mechanism of action of this formula for the treatment of osteoporosis is not only different from that of the drugs commonly used in Western medicine to inhibit bone resorption (such as estrogen), but also different from that of drugs to promote bone production (such as fluoride), but “treating both the symptoms and the root cause”. Specifically, kidney supplement herbal medicines prevent and treat osteoporosis by the following means.
(1) Promoting the rise of sex hormone and calcium-regulating hormone levels in blood, stimulating the function of pituitary-adrenal axis or pituitary-gonadal axis, and increasing the number and sensitivity of estrogen receptors in the body (especially in bone tissue).
(2) Directly promote the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts, resulting in increased bone formation.
(3) Directly inhibit the activity of osteoclasts, resulting in diminished bone resorption.
(4) Improving the absorption status of calcium ions in the intestine, resulting in increased absorption and utilization of calcium ions by the body.
Therefore, taking kidney tonics such as Liu Wei Di Huang Wan under the prescription of a professional physician can effectively treat osteoporosis.
Although osteoporosis is a problem for the elderly, it is not a treatable disease, nor should we wait until symptoms appear and fractures occur before treating it. When people enter middle age, they need to tense up the string of “prevention of osteoporosis”. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the best prevention and treatment should start at the age of 40. If from this time onwards, it is feasible to take some kidney tonics, but it is necessary to do so under the guidance of a medical professional. For example, the specific usage of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan is to take 4-6 grams once a day with warm water on an empty stomach. This is a good way to strengthen the kidneys and bones. However, this product is not suitable for elderly people with Yang deficiency. In addition, the usual life should also pay attention to the spiritual conditioning, reasonable diet, increase light, quit smoking and alcohol, careful use of drugs, physical exercise and other aspects, will be beneficial to the prevention of osteoporosis.
Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis requires a full range of.
First, the conditioning of the spirit
The spiritual activity of human body has a close relationship with the physiological and pathological changes of the organism, and the key to nourishing the spirit is to try to maintain “calmness and emptiness, the true energy from it, and the spirit within the guard”; because the change of spiritual factors will affect the endocrine function, and the endocrine disorder is one of the main reasons for the formation of osteoporosis, so spiritual nourishment is an important part of the prevention of Therefore, mental health is an important part of the prevention of osteoporosis.
Second, a reasonable diet
Diet is very important to improve the quality of bones, and can reduce the impact of osteoporosis by half. Vitamins are important nutrients necessary to maintain good health, and vitamin D and calcium play an important role in the prevention of osteoporosis. You need to eat appropriate foods containing vitamin D such as pork liver and egg yolk. Roasted pork ribs with carrots provide carotene and calcium and phosphorus, which can strengthen the bone marrow’s ability to produce cells and are recommended as a regular delicacy. Milk and dairy products are the richest sources of calcium, and it is second to none among human foods in terms of calcium content. You should also eat more calcium-rich foods such as meat, beans and their products, shrimp, kelp, nori, sesame paste, black fungus, red dates, melon seeds and peanuts. Walnuts contain protein, fat, carbohydrates, as well as vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, manganese, etc., is a good dietary supplement. Modern famous doctor Zhang Xicun said: “walnut for nourishing the liver and kidney, strengthen the muscles and bones of the important medicine, so good at treating back and leg pain, all tendon pain.” The conditions can often take it.
Third, increase the light
The reason is that sunlight can transform the inactive vitamin D in the skin into active vitamin D, which is good for calcium absorption and helps bone production.
Fourth, quit smoking and alcohol
Smoking increases bone melting, nicotine makes the nerves release catecholamines to hypoxemia, contributing to osteoporosis. Alcohol has a certain damage to the kidney, so that the kidney to calcium, phosphorus reabsorption function is reduced.
Five, careful use of drugs
Be cautious, use less or do not use drugs that cause osteoporosis, such as long-term application of antiepileptic drugs (sodium phenytoin, epileptone, etc.) and sedative drugs (sleepytone, Valium); must be applied, but also under the guidance of a physician, the correct and reasonable use of drugs. In addition, the abuse of caffeine, addictive drugs, adrenal cortical glucocorticoids, etc., can contribute to the loss of bone mass.
Sixth, sports therapy
Regular physical exercise is the most effective way to enhance the body’s immune function and slow down the aging of the body. To move to nourish the body, can promote blood circulation, enhance muscle tension on the bones, promote blood calcium to the bone transport, conducive to bone formation. According to Chinese medicine, the process of growth, development, prosperity and aging is the process of the blood and qi changing from weak to strong, from strong to weak, from balance to imbalance. After middle age, the vital energy and blood is depleted and deficient, qi deficiency is unable to promote blood flow and blood stasis organs can not function properly and weakness. Exercise makes the blood flow, the joints are unclogged, and the qi is smoothly regulated. Daily massage Hegu, Nei Guan, foot three points, concentrate on the spirit, intention to keep the Dantian, do more than 5 minutes of abdominal breathing, or stepping, running, playing Taijiquan, do aerobics, etc., have the effect of strengthening the bones. If you need to be temporarily bedridden due to bone disease, you should also perform active or passive exercises of the limbs and abdominal and back muscles in bed as much as possible to prevent the occurrence of disuse muscle atrophy and further aggravation of osteoporosis.