Important for the prevention, but also the treatment of osteoporosis, which concerns 3 out of 5 women and 1 out of 5 men after 50, is exercise even from childhood, he tells Fm Agency and Tania Madouvalou, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Antonis Angoules.

“Osteoporosis is a silent epidemic, but it is treated, before reaching medication and with some healthy dietary measures: No smoking, no alcohol, no junk food, but vitamin D and calcium, in foods such as dairy, fatty fish, almonds, yolk egg, beef liver, tahini, fruit. Also, not much meat consumption.’

Regarding exercise, Mr. Angoules states that it is an undervalued medicine. “Exercise works adjunctively to medication and has been shown in many research papers to increase bone density in the spine and hip, while reducing the incidence of fractures.” But which type of exercise is most helpful? “Two types of exercise are very useful. Strenuous exercise that involves jumping, such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, and weight training. But walking is also very good for osteoporosis, because it has been proven that women who walk 4 hours a week have a 40% lower incidence of fractures than those who walk only one hour a week. Walking is a good maintenance exercise for osteoporosis, it is not a first choice, but it can be done at all ages.”

Bending exercises are stressful, like those done in yoga or pilates, and that’s why we don’t recommend them to people with osteoporosis, Mr. Angoules concluded.