I know, I know … there are so many causes with “days” that it’s hard to keep track. (And kind of makes you want to dismiss them altogether.) But I was sent some information on osteoporosis that peaked my interest and made me want to look into it a bit more.
Before I share it with you though, let’s define osteoporosis. It’s a condition that causes bones to become thin and porous, decreasing bone strength and leading to increased risk of breaking a bone. I’m sure most of us have heard this sort of general definition before. But as I get older, and as my parents get older, the following facts seem to have hit me harder than before.
1 in 4 women and at least 1 in 8 men over 50 have osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis causes 70-90% of 30,000 hip fractures annually.
Each hip fracture costs the system $21,285 in the 1st year after hospitalization, and $44,156 if the patient is institutionalized.
23% of patients who fracture a hip die in less than a year.
The lifetime risk of hip fracture is greater (1 in 6) than the 1 in 9 lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
Some tips for reducing the risk (source: Health Canada):
Calcium: People over the age of 50 need 1200 mg of calcium each day, so make sure you’re getting enough.
Vitamin D: Calcium is not easily absorbed by the body without vitamin D. If you’re over the age of 50, it’s recommended that you take a daily supplement of 400 IU of vitamin D, in addition to a healthy diet.
Weight-bearing activity: Bones become stronger with increased activity (which is pretty amazing, really), and it’s recommended daily. Weight-bearing exercises include dancing, walking, hiking and tennis.
How do you know if you have osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis largely goes undiagnosed until it’s too late. Your bones can be losing density without you knowing it and that’s why the condition is sometimes called “the silent thief.” A confirmed diagnosis is possible through a test called Bone Mineral Density test — a safe, painless test apparently.
What can you do if you have osteoporosis?
Unlike when my Nana fell, broke her hip, had to live in care, and died shortly afterwards, there are a number of treatments available today. I’m no expert on them, of course. But if you have any of the risk facts listed here, it’s good to know that you’ve got some options.
So … all this to say that someone emailed me asking if I would help raise awareness for osteoporosis. I really didn’t think I cared about osteoporosis, but maybe I should.
For more information, here are some websites: Health Canada (government), Osteoporosis Canada(non-profit, with government and Caltrate — a calcium supplement – as sponsors), International Osteoporosis Foundation (non-profit, non-government), and the organization that had contacted me in the first place and got me thinking about osteoporosis is On the Go Women (run by a Canadian pharmaceutical company called Novartis).
*** Important: If you are thinking about suicide or experiencing a crisis right now, don’t wait: Call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room. There are professionals available who can give you immediate help. ***
I’ve been deeply moved by the recent movement “It gets better.”
In response to some recent high-profile teen suicides, Dan Savage, a well-known writer and openly gay man, sparked a tremendous viral video campaign in the hopes of preventing gay and lesbian teens from choosing suicide. Understanding the deep despair that can come from isolation, taunting and outright homophobia, Savage reaches out to tell teens that “it gets better” — life after high school can be good, fulfilling, and very happy.
Savage and his partner’s “It gets better” video has inspired countless others to do the same. Now, any teen facing turmoil related to sexual identity can see and hear the stories of hundred of others who’ve been there. It is a clear societal plea to wait – don’t end your life — it gets better. You will find the life you deserve.
Naturally, the videos are not a fix to the larger issue of discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered teens and adults. But they are speaking out loud about something our society rarely speaks of: suicide.
Suicide: can we talk about it?
It’s not that I blame people for not talking openly about suicide. I understand it’s hard. Right now, I am fumbling for words, hoping that I am not saying something “wrong.”
But surely, if we as a society have successfully learned to talk about safe sex and HIV, we can learn to talk about mental health and suicide. An article in the Ottawa Citizen, although dated now (2002), makes this point clear with numbers: “For over 23 years widespread media and professional attention concentrated on 12,500 AIDS deaths, compared to little concern with 92,000 suicides.”
Like most other hard topics — serious illness in children, the death of a child, miscarriage, addiction, mental illness – the silence can often be one of the most difficult parts for the person and their loved ones. Those three simple words — it gets better — may not seem like much. But they can be start. They can provide a tiny glimpse that there could be light at the end of a very deep and suffocating tunnel.
If you’ve never been to that pit of darkness that a major depressive episode can take you to, then the notion of taking your life might seem utterly unthinkable. So unthinkable that, as a society, we’ve stigmatized those affected by suicide ideation and those who’ve loved someone who has committed suicide.
Let’s try and talk more about it. Not about the act of suicide, but about suicide prevention.
Suicide takes a heavy toll
Recent media attention has focused on the suicide of teens that were bullyied in relation to gender identity, but the cold hard fact is this, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association (emphasis mine):
In Canada, suicide is the second highest cause of death for youth aged 10-24.
The impact of suicide on a family is incredibly deep and can affect many generations. The statistics tell us that males commit suicide at far greater rates than females, which might explain why slurrs around suicide often debase it as an “unmanly” act — “selfish,” or “weak.”
These words certainly won’t prevent someone in despair from taking their own life. We need much better words to talk about suicide in an open and frank manner because it’s enacting a heavy toll on our society. Just consider:
“Men commit suicide at a rate four times higher than that of women. According to a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), more men in Ontario committed suicide in the past 10 years than died in car crashes.” source
And, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), while you have been reading this post, someone in the world has committed suicide. Because every 40 seconds, another life is lost.
Sadly, I think the person I’ve known to talk about suicide most frankly was the woman who shared my hospital room in a maternity ward. A few hours after I had delivered my son, she had delivered a daughter. While my son looked like a huge, bouncing baby, her daughter — at almost half his size – looked tiny and vulnerable. And so did she. Her partner, the baby’s father, had committed suicide while she was in her first trimester.
But what can we do?
This is a tough one …. but I think that talking more openly about suicide and its connection to mental health is a good start. Perhaps it could help deflate the stigma that someone in our family, workplace or school may be feeling.
While countless families and loved ones did not have the advantage of being shown warning signs, we can try to keep ourselves open to the following warning signs, as identified by the Canadian Mental Health Association, in case someone we know shares them with us:
Some warning signs that a person may be suicidal include:
repeated expressions of hopelessness, helplessness, or desperation,
behaviour that is out of character, such as recklessness in someone who is normally careful,
signs of depression – sleeplessness, social withdrawal, loss of appetite, loss of interest in usual activities,
a sudden and unexpected change to a cheerful attitude,
giving away prized possessions to friends and family,
making a will, taking out insurance, or other preparations for death, such as telling final wishes to someone close,
making remarks related to death and dying, or an expressed intent to commit suicide. An expressed intent to commit suicide should always be taken very seriously.
It gets better
While the campaign’s message that “It gets better,” is no doubt true to the core, one doesn’t need to wait alone until it does. I think it’s awful to imagine a young person suffering in silence throughout four years of high school (for an adult, four years may seem like no big deal, but for a young person, it might be an eternity).
I’m not advocating that people need to shout from the rooftops about their own personal despair. Everyone still has a right to their own boundaries, whether they be broad or narrow. But we can encourage one another to talk to someone of trust. And if a person feels unable to speak to someone he or she knows, let’s ensure that information is readily available for crisis and support services — as readily available as condoms now are.
Sure, it gets better. But maybe we can help it get better sooner than later.
What do you think … is there anything we can do to help lower the rates of suicide in our own country? Our own city or town? Perhaps even our own school or workplace?
How has the “It gets better” campaign affected you?
The term “bullying” is used a lot these days. Do you think that we bully more as a society now than we did before? Is there a difference between teasing and bullying?
I received an email the today that made my Canadian heart smile. It was from a good friend who remembered my blog posting titled “Excuse me, but you’re stepping on my Canadian pride.” This post, from March 2010, was an open letter to Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
The guide for new citizens to Canadians had finally be given a re-haul (it had not been updated since 1995). But not only had this revised version of the guide omitted gay rights, it had been revealed that Minister Kenney had ctually stripped gay rights out during the production process. This had knocked the wind out of my Canadian pride. A pride intrinsically linked to our country’s stance against discriminate based on race, gender, age, national origin, religion OR sexual orientation.
However, my pride is feeling just fine after reading today that the next version to be released of this guide will include reference to gay rights. Although the exact wording had not been released to the public, today’s article in The Ottawa Citizen suggests that it will be similar to the following:
“Our laws protect all Canadians, including gays and lesbians, from unjust discrimination. All Canadians enjoy the same access to education, health care, jobs, housing, social services, and pensions, regardless of their sexual orientation. In 2005, Parliament passed a law extending the right to civil marriage to same-sex couples. At the same time, the law respects religious freedom, so no church, synagogue, mosque or temple can be forced to perform a marriage that goes against the religious beliefs of its members.”
The concerning part is summed up quite well with this description from a Globe & Mail article:
Imagine that you are undergoing a fairly routine surgery – say, removal of uterine fibroids or hysterectomy. During or right after the procedure, while you are still under anesthesia, a group of medical students parades into the operating room and they perform gynecological exams (unrelated to the surgery) without your knowledge.
Do you consider this okay, or an outrageous violation of your rights?
Regardless of your feelings, you should be aware that this is standard procedure in many Canadian teaching hospitals.
Shocking as this sounds, it has apparently been happening for years now, with the blessing of the the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC).
But I have very good news for you my friends! The SOGC and the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada has revised its policy on pelvic exams performed by medical students to explicitly say that consent is required.
I’m not sure if the SOGC really wanted to change the policy or even felt the change was necessary, based on my reading of this article in the Globe & Mail. But nonetheless, the public outcry forced a change in this policy.
And I don’t know about you, but I sure feel better knowing that “implicit” consent is not good enough for using my body (and pretty darn important parts of it!) as a practicing ground. I’ve given consent to plenty of medical students — in fact, one even broke my water for my first born — but I like to know what I’m consenting to, thanks very much.
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