Tools & Resources

• Got Enough Vitamin D & Calcium?
• Best Foods for Your Bones
• Exercises to Build Strong Bones
• How Is Bone Density Measured?
• Quiz: All About Calcium
• Causes of Osteoporosis Pain

FeaturesRelated to Osteoporosis

21. The Truth About Vitamin D: Can You Get Too Much Vitamin D?
    
    Can I get too much vitamin D? Too much of any good thing is a bad thing. Too much vitamin D can cause an abnormally high blood calcium level, which could result in nausea , constipation, confusion, abnormal heart rhythm, and even kidney stones. It's nearly impossible to get too much vitamin D from s
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22. Newer Osteoporosis Treatments Build Stronger Bones
    
    No matter which osteoporosis drug your doctor chooses for you, it's helpful to know as much as possible about how the disease has affected you. One way to tell is to ask about your "markers." What a difference a decade makes. In 1995, Fosamax, the first medication in a class of drugs called bisphosp
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23. Can You Reverse Osteoporosis?
    
    For many people, hearing "You have osteoporosis" is startling. Some hear it in the hospital after breaking a hip. Others get the news after getting a bone density test. Osteoporosis is most common in women after menopause, people with osteoporosis in their family, and people with a small frame. But
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24. Drink Less for Strong Bones
    
    Heavy drinking is a health risk for many reasons, including the effects on bones. Research shows that chronic heavy alcohol use, especially during adolescence and young adult years, can dramatically affect bone health and increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life. What do doctors advise? Drink
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25. The Truth About Vitamin D: What Kind of Vitamin D is Best?
    
    What kind of vitamin D is best? The recommended form of vitamin D is vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol. This is the natural form of vitamin D that your body makes from sunlight. Supplements are made from the fat of lambs' wool. However, a clinical study reported in 2008 suggested that vitamin D2 works a
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26. The Truth About Vitamin D: How Can You Get Enough Vitamin D?
    
    How can I get enough vitamin D? Thirty minutes of sun exposure to the face, legs, or back -- without sunscreen -- at least twice a week should give you plenty of vitamin D. But this much direct sun exposure might also expose you to potentially dangerous levels of cancer-causing UV radiation. And unl
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27. The Truth About Vitamin D: How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?
    
    How much vitamin D do I need? In November 2010, the Institute of Medicine's expert committee set a new "dietary reference intake" for vitamin D. Assuming that a person gets virtually no vitamin D from sunshine -- and that this person gets adequate amounts of calcium -- the IOM committee recommends g
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28. The Truth About Vitamin D: Vitamin D Food Sources
    
    Which foods contain vitamin D? Surprisingly few foods contain vitamin D -- unless it's added to the food. That's because your body is built to get vitamin D through your skin (from sunlight) rather than through your mouth (by food). But once your body has enough, it doesn't matter whether you got it
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29. The Truth About Vitamin D: Drug Interactions
    
    Does vitamin D interact with other medications? Yes. Steroid medications such as prednisone can interfere with vitamin D metabolism. If you take steroid drugs regularly, discuss vitamin D with your doctor. The weight loss drug orlistat -- brand names include Xenical and Alli -- may cut absorption of
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30. Osteoporosis: On the Cutting Edge of Bone Health
    
    For years, we've thought we understood osteoporosis: it's a disease in which the bones become more and more fragile as they lose density, usually due to aging, menopause, and other factors like lack of calcium and vitamin D in the diet. But today, advances in research are shedding new light on osteo
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