The 10 Principles of Unbreakable Bone: What Every Woman Over 50 Needs to Know | Dr Vonda Wright | #154

**Dr. Vonda Wright** (0:00)
Did you know that 70% of all hip fractures, usually here, are in women? Bone is one of the most influential organs for our entire longevity. Isn't that fascinating? Sometimes we think of bone as just a static, silent structure, and yet what I'm telling you right now is that bone is a master communicator. Women will reach peak bone density at around 25 to age 30 That is the highest we can achieve in our youth. Over perimenopause, you can lose 15 to 20 percent of your bone density without even knowing it. What do I do when I'm losing my bone so quickly? Let's talk about 10 Principles of Unbreakable Bone.
Hi, I'm Dr. Vonda Wright. I'm your orthopedic sports surgeon and authority in whole women's health and longevity. And today, I'm going to be talking to you about something maybe you never think about, your bones. In fact, when was the last time you actually thought about your bones? Maybe this morning when you were looking in the mirror and noticing your cheekbones, or maybe you were noticing the amazing bone structure on the models in Fashion Week, or your collarbones and the clothes you wear. The reality is most of us don't spend a lot of time thinking about our bones. And yet, we need to. Bones are not just static structures that hold up our muscles like this femur. In fact, bones are dynamic. They replace themselves every 10 years. You get a new set of bones little by little through a process called remodeling. So it's really critical because bones are remodeling living organs that we give them what they need. It's also really important to understand that bones aren't just structural. They are metabolic. They are incubators of your baby blood cells. They are endocrine organs that secrete hormones. So for the rest of today, we're going to be talking about 10 principles because bone is not silent. It is not only a living organ that plays key roles in your metabolism, your cognition, your movement, but it is key to your longevity. Some of the statistics surrounding failure of bone are startling. Did you know that 70% of all hip fractures, usually here, are in women? Did you know that the minute you break your femur, you have a 30% chance of dying in the first year? And those of us who survive, 50% of us do not return to pre-fall function, meaning you can't live in the house where you raised your children. Those are startling statistics and yet things that many of us don't even pay attention to. So let's talk about 10 principles of unbreakable bone. Number one, bone is a living endocrine organ, not just a static scaffold. Did you know that your bones secrete hormones? In fact, not just one hormone, but many hormones. We're going to talk about two of them today. Number one, osteocalcin, and number two, LCN2. The bone secretes osteocalcin, and it influences metabolism, muscle function, and even cognition. It's released, osteocalcin is released during bone stress. It travels through the body and causes your muscle and your pancreas to work together for glucose metabolism and insulin secretion. Osteocalcin travels to your brain and causes the production of bone-derived neurotrophic factor, which helps you build a better brain. If you're a guy, osteocalcin goes to your testicles and helps you make testosterone in your lytic cells. Bone does so many things through the work of osteocalcin. But what about this other hormone I mentioned, LCN2? LCN2 has a direct effect on satiety. Satiety meaning how hungry you feel. Are you full yet? You know, and that makes a lot of sense because if bone is a storehouse of minerals and a regulator of glucose and insulin metabolism, it makes sense that it has a role in telling us when we're full. Isn't that fascinating? Sometimes we think of bone as just a static, silent structure. And yet, what I'm telling you right now is that bone is a master communicator.
Number two, women lose this bone, their master communicator, much faster than they realize. So let's talk a little bit about bone biology. Women as young women and girls will reach peak bone density at around 25 to age 30 That means that is the highest we can achieve in our youth. We then plateau and start to lose bone at a rate of 1% per year, a lot like men do, until we lose our hormones. And we have the catastrophic effect of losing estrogen on our bones, which increases our loss of bone anywhere from 2 to 5% a year, all driven by the perimenopausal loss of estrogen. And why is that? Estrogen is a key regulator of a bone cell called the osteoclast. There are many kinds of bone cells, but two that we talk about a lot are the osteoclast, which resorbs bone, and the osteoblast, which builds bone. Estrogen is a key controller of the osteoclast. And prior to perimenopause, these two cells work in homeostasis, or balance, to keep bone remodeling in check. But when we take estrogen away, the osteoclast is able to work uninhibited, and we break down more bone than we are able to build. That's why over perimenopause, you can lose 15 to 20% of your bone density without even knowing it, because you can't feel that. You never feel that until you fracture. You know, I do DEXA and REM scans on nearly every patient I have, and I am shocked, just as the women are, when I find that very young women have low bone density. Or women in perimenopause who think they're doing everything right, and often are, have low bone density. And maybe that's because they never built peak bone mass to the level that we needed. Or maybe it's because of the effect of losing our estrogen. Number three, I don't want to leave you in this state of panic. What do I do when I'm losing my bone so quickly? Number three is one of the most powerful ways to build better bone, and that is lifting. In fact, even women with osteoporosis can lift heavy loads. It's been found in multiple studies, including Dr. Beck's Lift More study that even women with osteoporosis can lift heavy and jump. Without hurting themselves and in doing so, can dramatically increase the bone density in their lumbar and sacrum spine, as well as their hips, which are the critical places that we need strong bones to prevent fatal falls. So what are some of the key elements of lifting heavy? Well, the strongest muscles in our body are below our belly button. So while it's important to have strong upper bodies, the muscles below our waist, those that are strengthened with squats and deadlifts, are critical to pull on bones and to help build better bones. So lifting heavy loads is one of the most critical components to building better bone. But what's next? Well, number four on our list is jumping or impact training. Now, when I post about jumping, lots of responses are that I haven't jumped in years or I'm afraid to jump to hurt myself. If you have not jumped in years or you're afraid, just start lightly on the ground before you progress up to jumping up and down hard or jumping off an eight inch step with a rebounding jump. We know from the Liftmore study, many studies in the literature and even my own work at the University of Pittsburgh, that when we impact our bones, we can not only maintain our bone density, but even build it, even in peri and post menopause. So lifting heavy and jumping, how many times a day? 20 to 50 jumps a day broken up into different sessions will do the trick to build better bones. You may think your bones are fine, silent, but if you're a woman over 40, your bones are talking to you. And unbreakable bone is how you answer back. During perimenopause and menopause, your bone loss can triple without us even knowing it. That is why I created my eight shield building better bone program, including Unbreakable Bone Nutrition Augment. Built on clinically studied collagen, microcrystalline hydroxyapatite, and the essential micronutrients your skeleton needs, it's the only formula designed by an orthopedic surgeon who spent 25 years rebuilding bone, muscle, and movement. Stronger bones are the foundation of a longer, more powerful life. Start building your unbreakable era. Today at shop.drvondaright.com.