共用题干 Osteoporosis and Men
Mention the word osteoporosis in the manly world of testosterone（皋丸素）,
professional basketball and the XFL（美国最新的职业足球联合会）,and you"re likely to get
a wave of the hand and a dismissive（轻蔑的）"That"s a woman"s disease."Not so. More
than 2 million American men have been found to have the thinning bones and skeletal（骨骼
的）weakness of osteoporosis（骨质疏松症）,and an additional 3 million are at an
increased risk of developing them.
It"s true that osteoporosis strikes women with much greater frequency than men一in
some studies as much as four to six times as often.But that"s no reason to brush it off as
"their"disease.It"s a mere stroke of gender luck that men"s bones tend to grow larger,
stronger and denser. Also paying dividends are those sports that boys(and,increasingly,
girls)play as children一running up and down basketbal}courts,soccer and baseball fields.
As it happens,physical activity is one of the more important ways to increase bone density
and protect bone health.
But even the most active men cannot ignore certain facts of life.All of us build up our
bones during the first three decades of life,typically reaching peak bone mass in the early
30s.Around the age of 35,we begin gradually to lose some of this bone mass.Women
ultimately give up between 30%to 50%.Though mass loss in men is lower,it still makes
us vulnerable to back pains and bone fractures.In fact,this year alone American men will
suffer as many as half a million osteoporosis-related breaks,mostly in the spine,hip and
wrist.These are not only painful;thousands die each year from fracture-related
complications.
For many of us,however,there"s still time.of all the side effects of aging,
osteoporosis is one of the more preventable,through diet,exercise and changes in
lifestyle.The two key nutritional substances for bone health are calcium（钙）,which
makes bones stronger, and vitamin D,which helps the body absorb the calcium.
Exercising is also important,with emphasis on weight-bearing activities in which bones
and muscles work against gravity.Lifting weights and working out on resistance machines
can help preserve bone density.
Be careful about what"s in your medicine cabinet.Prolonged use of some medications,
such as steroids（类固醇）,can weaken your bones. Smoking and drinking are both bad
for bones,as is prolonged weightlessness,for anybody who plans to work on the space
station. The kind of sport that boys often play as children is good for the build-up of their bones.