Question

Mary is 65 and now that she is retired, she prefers to stay home and watch game shows on TV. The only exercise she gets is walking to the mailbox in the afternoon. She dislikes milk, cheese, and yogurt. The only vegetables she likes to eat are corn, rhubarb, and peas. She eats mostly "meat and potato" meals. She went to the doctor yesterday and found that she had "shrunk" in height about 2 inches. What disease is she likely to be suffering from? What vitamin/mineral is she deficient in?

Answer 1

Mary is probably suffering from osteoporosis,which is the silent disease has bone loss without symptoms, one of the earliest signs of osteoporosis is the loosing height and accompanying stopped postures. This shrinkage is caused by tiny fractures in the vertebrae. This disease found in Postmenopausal women under 65 who present one or more risk factors for the disease.

Deficiency of vitamin D and calcium cause the osteoporosis, For calcium, eat dairy products such as milk, cheese,yogurt and green leafy vegetables; for vitamin D, take fortified products (like milk and cereal) or vitamin D rich food like eggs and salmon. Regular "weight-bearing" exercise such as walking, running can slightly improve bone density.