Sleep Disturbances Affect Your Bone Health - If you’re sleep deprived, it can make you less steady on your feet and more prone to tripping, thereby increasing your risk of falls indirectly. However, sleep disturbances also have a more direct influence on falls and fractures by influencing bone turnover and muscle strength.
Both short and long sleep duration have been indicated as risk factors for osteoporosis, for instance, and a study of older adults revealed that long sleep (eight hours or more a night) was the best predictor of osteoporosis risk. In osteoporosis, the net rate of bone resorption (breakdown) exceeds the rate of bone formation, which results in a decrease in bone mass. It turns out that how well you sleep may influence this delicate process, potentially leading to lower bone formation.
In fact, when 10 men had their sleep restricted and their circadian rhythm disrupted for three weeks, it led to an “uncoupling of bone turnover wherein bone formation is decreased but bone resorption is unchanged.”
“If chronic sleep disturbance is identified as a new risk factor for osteoporosis, it could help explain why there is no clear cause for osteoporosis in the approximately 50 percent of the estimated 54 million Americans with low bone mass or osteoporosis,” lead study author Dr. Christine Swanson, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, said in a press release.10 It could also help explain why people who sleep too little are at increased risk of fall-related fractures.
" More Tips for Reducing Your Risk of Falls "
Once you’ve addressed your sleeping habits, what else can you do to improve your fall risk? Safety is key. Remove tripping hazards, such as loose area rugs, extension cords and clutters. Install safety treads to stairways, rubber mats in showers and tubs and grab bars in bathrooms if you feel unsteady on your feet. Regular exercise is also important, as improving your balance, coordination and strength can significantly reduce your chances of falling. In fact, older adults who took part in an exercise program were 37 percent less likely to be injured during a fall compared to nonexercisers, one study found. This included a 61 percent lower risk of having a fall-induced broken bone and 43 percent lower risk of sustaining a fall-related injury serious enough to require admission to a hospital.
However, you can easily combat this with exercise. For instance, eight weeks of balance training reduced slips and improved the likelihood of recovery from slips among the elderly. Strength training should also be part of your exercise routine, as it helps you maintain healthy bone mass, prevent age-related muscle loss and strengthen your connective tissues, tendons and ligaments, which help hold your body in the upright position. Eating right is another strategy, as nutrients including vitamin D (which you can also obtain from the sun), K2 and magnesium contribute to the formation of strong, healthy bones. Optimizing your vitamin D levels alone may cut your risk of falls in half.
So, while sometimes falls are inevitable, there’s a lot you can do to lower your risk and even prevent falls from occurring. By making sensible changes to your home, eating right, exercising and tending to proper sleep, you can help yourself stay steady on your feet no matter what your age.
Sumber : https://www.mercola.com/
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