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Healthy Aging By Sharon Johnson Senior adapts to fragile bones By Sharon Johnson Adeline Hogfoss is beautiful. She wears her 88 years well. She has an engaging smile and a friendly, beckoning manner. Her 4-foot-8 height and her visibly bent and rounded back do not immediately create the image of a Marine Corps staff sergeant. But she was one. For almost three years at the end of World War II, she was stationed at the Marine Corps Institute in Washington, D.C. She remembers the physical activity she did as part of her military duty, fondly recalling boot camp marches and morning calisthenics. As is true for many of us, regular physical activity did not continue during the rest of Adeline's adult life. Actual exercise was rare, and the family diet was not necessarily packed with calcium. That reality explains, in part, the challenging health condition she has now - a condition present in thousands of her peers in the Rogue Valley. Adeline Hogfoss has "bones like powder" and a diagnosis of osteoporosis. The condition was not clinically documented until she was almost 80, despite a visibly developing "dowager's hump" in late middle age. Osteoporosis is tied to the lack of enough calcium-rich food in one's diet throughout life, in combination with estrogen loss at menopause. At 80, with the help of a thoughtful medical practitioner, "Dee," as she prefers to be called, began a then-experimental medication to strengthen her bones. She also started a daily 20-minute exercise routine, using a set of uniquely crafted stationary bike pedals. She assessed her diet using her former husband's recommended diabetic diet as a guide, and modified her eating habits, adding more dairy products and green vegetables (and canned sardines). With osteoporosis, some of the risk factors can be managed through nutrition and exercise. There is no recorded family history of osteoporosis (another risk factor). Dee does not feel like she ever really had the "small thin frame" that is often present in women with the condition. She does not lament her situation more than briefly, when she catches a glimpse of her rounded profile in a mirror. Instead, she has made a determined effort to learn about the disease and educate anyone who will listen. She elicits questions and she has ready responses. Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens bones, making them susceptible to fracture. Hip fracture with its accompanying immobility is the most serious consequence, and Dee is vigilant in trying to avoid that possibility. This former Marine sergeant has too many things left to do in her life to be sidetracked by a broken hip. To that end, she always travels with a small sturdy cane, tailored to her tiny stature. She has reorganized her home to make sure it meets the needs presented by her condition (no loose rugs, lightweight household items in easy reach). She encourages her women friends (the disease is more prevalent in women) to get bone-density testing, stressing the importance of an early baseline. This woman manages her disease with information - and attitude. May is National Osteoporosis Prevention Month. It is a perfect time to get that bone-density baseline. Tell them my mother sent you. Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.