Steps everyone can take to lower your chances of osteoporosis as you age

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Osteoporosis is a silent disorder with a staggering impact - over $25 billion a year in medical costs.

Learning who's at risk and how to prevent broken bones is so important.

"I was going down the stairs at night," says 72-year-old Martha Jablow of Roxborough as she recounts her first fracture.

After a DEXA scan years before showed bone loss, she was taking medication, and getting more exercise.

"And a few steps from the bottom, I just slipped out of my silly slippers and fell on my forearm," she recalls. "My mother lived to be 104 and she never broke a bone until she was 100 and a half."

Jablow later shattered an elbow in a second fall. That fall caused issues with her hand that still exist today.

Dr. Katie O'Malley of Temple Health's family practice says bones continually break down and rebuild.

If they break down faster than rebuild, osteopenia, then osteoporosis, sets in.

Dr. O'Malley says the imbalance starts surprisingly early.

"Your peak bone mass starts usually when you're in your 20s or 30s, and after that, it starts to slow," she says.

Drugs like long-term steroids, acid-reducers, antidepressants, and older blood-thinners like Warfarin can also decrease bone turnover. So do some post-breast cancer drugs.

High rates of lactose intolerance among African-American, Asian-American and Latina women also mean they may not be getting enough calcium to rebuild bones.

But bone loss isn't just limited to women.

"I think there's a stat that one in four men over the age of 50 could experience osteoporosis," she says.

Both men and women between 19 and 50 years need a thousand milligrams of calcium a day.

Women over 50 and men over 70 need 1200 milligrams.

The calcium doesn't have to be dairy.

"Like leafy green vegetables, kale, collard greens, fish with those edible bones. Sardines and salmon," she says.

Weight-bearing exercise is a must, too.

Jablow wouldn't miss her walking club.

"We walk in the Wissahickon once a week," she says, adding, "It's a beautiful place to walk."

She also swims twice a week.

While it doesn't build bones, she says it keeps her agile, and her muscles and tendons strong, so she's less likely to fall.