"Patients with fractures and osteoporosis have increased after this two-year pandemic," he noted at a virtual seminar entitled "Let's Improve Bone Health, Prevent Osteoporosis" here on Thursday.
The increase occurred because, during the pandemic, people's mobility reduced, and people tended to eat without control and did not take care of their bone health.
For that reason, he appealed to the public to take good care of their bone health from an early age by consuming milk and Vitamin D.
Foods such as tofu, tempeh, nuts, vegetables, and fruits can be consumed from a young age to strengthen bones. In addition, drinking milk and sunbathing in the morning are also essential to improve bone health.
According to him, by taking care of their bone health from a young age, people can achieve maximal bone growth and a greater peak bone mass.
People with a greater peak bone mass will have a "bank" of bones for when they are older. "They will not have a major decrease in bone mass," he added.
During Thursday's seminar, he further noted that the number of people suffering from osteoporosis is higher than the number of people with other non-communicable diseases.
"There are far more people with osteoporosis than diabetes, more than people with hypertension, more than people with cancer," he pointed out.
He said that 30 percent of women aged above 50 have osteoporosis. Meanwhile, 20 percent of men aged above 50 have the condition.
However, people are often not aware of osteoporosis because it is asymptomatic and does not cause pain. Therefore, the disease is called a silent disease.
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Translator: Anita Permata. Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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