An older woman seeks advice from the nurse about preventing further bone loss after being diagnosed with osteopenia

Question

To achieve the woman's goal, which of the following patient teach-ings should the nurse provide to enhance the activity of the osteoblasts? a. Limit sodium in-take. c. Eat high-fiber foods.
b. Refrain from alco-hol use. d. Exercise with weights.

Answer 1

D
In osteopenia, bone metabolism is unbalanced because the action of osteoclasts is greater than the action of osteoblasts. To treat osteopenia effectively, the balance between the activities of the bone cells must be shifted to more osteoblast (bone-building) activity; increasing osteoblast ac-tivity helps reduce bone loss and, at the same time, helps gain bone density. Lifting weights sti-mulates osteoblasts to build bone through the application of opposing forces on the bone and helps achieve the woman's goal by increasing physical activity (to stem bone loss) and by gene-rating more bone (to gain bone density). Sodium impairs calcium absorption; therefore the nurse instructs her to limit sodium intake to reduce bone loss. Alcohol impairs calcium absorption; therefore the nurse instructs her to avoid alcoholic beverages. Fiber inhibits calcium absorption.