Chronic Heavy Drinking Can Lead To Osteoporosis

By Jody Smith HERWriter

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Heavy drinking could be bad for your bones. In fact it can lead to osteoporosis.

Chronic alcohol use can cause calcium to leach out of your bones. Just 2 or 3 ounces of alcohol a day can have an adverse effect on your stomach, pancreas and liver, preventing proper absorption of calcium. Hormones can get thrown out of whack, leading to more bone loss.

Dr. Primal Kaur is an osteoporosis specialist at Temple University Health System in Philadelphia.

"Heavy drinkers are more likely to suffer frequent fractures due to brittle bones and nerve damage, especially hip and spine fractures, Kaur says. Those fractures will likely heal slowly because of malnutrition."

Murray Dabby, LCSW, is the director of the Atlanta Center for Social Therapy. He recommends that instead of seeing the need to cut down on the amount of alcohol you drink as denying yourself pleasure, look at it as a way of saying "yes" to healthy living. This may make it easier to bring this positive change into your life.

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/alcohol?ecd=wnl_hbn_062810

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