Diabetes Self-Management – September 2019

Knowing the Link

Living with diabetes increases the risk of bone loss,

but follow these steps for better bone health

By Paul Wynn

M

ara Schwartz knows firsthand

what it’s like living with diabetes

and losing bone strength. Thirty-three

years ago, during her senior year in high

school, Schwartz was diagnosed with

type 1 diabetes. Schwartz discovered the

connection between diabetes and bone

loss on her own as a nurse and later on

as a certified diabetes educator (CDE).

After a double mastectomy and hys-

terectomy, she was diagnosed with osteo-

penia, a condition that occurs when the

body doesn’t make new bone as quickly

as it reabsorbs old bone. Making new

bone takes longer now for her – some-

thing she realized after she broke her

toe last year. “I just tapped my toe with

a dumbbell during a workout,” says Shu

tter

stoc

k/ro

bua

rt

30 September/October 2019