{"id":692073,"date":"2026-07-15T00:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T00:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/692073\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T00:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T00:42:10","slug":"how-im-avoiding-breaking-my-hips-like-my-parents-did","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/692073\/","title":{"rendered":"How I\u2019m avoiding breaking my hips like my parents did"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a teacher, I was always on my feet, and I went to the gym as often as I could, so I didn\u2019t think it was likely. Still, when I next saw my GP, in December 2018, I decided to mention it at the end of my appointment. She asked me questions about my family history and body weight \u2013 a small, thin frame apparently increases your risk. We spoke about other factors, including smoking, eating disorders and whether I had taken steroids. Being female and over 50 also increased my risk. At the end of our chat, she said, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll qualify for a bone-density scan on the NHS<\/a>, but I\u2019ll put in for one and see what happens.\u201d I was very surprised when, not long afterwards, I was called for an appointment.<\/p>\n

All I can say is thank goodness I was, because it revealed I had osteoporosis<\/a>, particularly affecting my spine. The scan itself was quick, like an X-ray, so I couldn\u2019t believe it when they told me the results. I was in total shock. I was only 54 years old, but the news made me feel ancient. I was embarrassed and didn\u2019t want to tell anybody. I always thought it was something only old ladies suffered from.<\/p>\n

Making changes to reduce my risk<\/p>\n

After my GP broke the news, we went straight into discussions about my next steps. Thankfully, I was only just in the osteoporotic range at that point, and as I had been diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolaemia, an inherited form of high cholesterol, they didn\u2019t want to put me on medication.<\/p>\n

Instead, the doctor suggested I look at the Royal Osteoporosis Society\u2019s (ROS) website, which I did, and then ring its helpline. The person I spoke to there was fantastic. They calmed me down, then explained more about the condition and the sorts of things I should consider doing with my diet and exercise.<\/p>\n

Following their advice, I now walk every day for 30 or 40 minutes. I\u2019ve changed what I do at the gym, too, so as well as some strength training, I\u2019ve taken up Zumba, a Latin-inspired dance fitness class, a couple of times a week. I also do online Pilates with hand weights because weight-bearing exercise slows bone loss and can even help build new bone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a teacher, I was always on my feet, and I went to the gym as often as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12365,210470,13888,59,102,2281,86965,12372,5438,56,54,55,157732,13963],"class_list":["post-692073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-bone-health","tag-bones-amp-joints","tag-conditions","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-health-and-fitness","tag-hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt","tag-osteoporosis","tag-standard","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-us-content","tag-womens-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}