When people ask you how tall you are do you tell them the height you were when you got your college physical? Depending upon your age, that number may no longer be accurate. You may have experienced height loss as you journeyed through adulthood. Far from being static, your height can change over time along with the rest of your body.
Height Loss with Age and What It Means
Most people don’t experience a change in height until after the age of 40. Beginning around the fourth decade, the average person loses a quarter to a third of an inch in height each decade. By the time you reach the age of 70, you could be up to two inches shorter than you were in your 20s. Unfortunately, height loss speeds up after the age of 70. By the time you reach your early 80s, you may have lost as much as three inches in height.
What Causes Height Loss with Age?
Gravity takes its toll on your skin, breasts, and buttocks, but it also affects your height. The steady downward pull of gravity causes the vertebrae in your spine, the bony parts that give your spine support to move closer together and become more compressed. You have soft cushions between the vertebrae that protect and support them but they become thinner and dryer with age. As a result, the bony vertebrae of your spinal column become more compressed.
If you have osteoporosis, you’ll lose height even faster. Women with osteoporosis may lose as much as 6 inches in height over time. Pretty frightening, huh? Even worse, some women have osteoporosis and don’t know it until they experience a fracture. That’s why it’s important to monitor your height and get a bone density study at a certain age based on your doctor’s recommendations. Most doctors recommend a bone density study at age 65 and earlier if you’re at higher risk for osteoporosis. Factors that increase your risk for osteoporosis include:
Low body weight.
Cigarette smoking or excessive use of alcohol
A family history of osteoporosis
Personal history of a fracture associated with minimal trauma
Certain medical conditions including malabsorption conditions, liver disease, premature menopause, rheumatoid arthritis or thyroid or parathyroid disease
Taking a glucocorticoid medication like prednisone longer term
Osteoporosis is often a “silent” disease, at least until you experience your first hip or a compression fracture of the spine. If too much force or pressure is placed on a vertebral bone weakened by osteoporosis it can crack with minimal trauma. Even something as simple as bending over, stepping out of the bathtub or coughing too hard can fracture a spine weakened by osteoporosis. A spinal fracture related to osteoporosis may be painful but the pain isn’t always bad enough to send the sufferer scurrying to their doctor. Therefore, spinal compression fractures may go undetected.
Vertebral compression fractures are surprisingly common. One out of four women will experience one during their lifetime. Vertebral fractures also affect the muscles around the spine that help control posture. As a result, people with one can experience muscle fatigue long after a vertebral fracture has healed.
When you lose excessive height due to osteoporosis, it can lead to abnormal outward curvature of the thoracic spine, a condition called kyphosis. Kyphosis is why some people with osteoporosis have a “hunched back” appearance. In some cases, changes in spinal alignment cause the rib cage to push down on the pelvis, leading to problems breathing and compressing organs inside the abdomen. The reduction in space due to compression causes the abdomen to stick out more. Osteoporosis can have far-reaching implications. That’s why keeping your bones healthy and strong is so important!
What Rapid Height Loss Says about Your Health
Research has linked rapid loss with an increased risk for health problems. In both men and women, losing height at a rate that’s faster than average is associated with an increased risk for hip fractures. This isn’t surprising since rapid height loss is linked with osteoporosis. What’s more surprising is losing height quickly is associated with a greater risk for heart disease, at least in men.
Reducing Height Loss as You Age
Is there anything you can do to preserve your height as you age? Bump up the intensity of your exercise program. One study involving 2,000 healthy, middle-aged men and women, showed those who did vigorous aerobic exercise on a regular basis experienced 50% less loss of height as they aged – even when they started after age 40. Plus, high-impact and high-intensity resistance training help build and preserve bone mass.
The other way to reduce height loss with age is to “feed” your bones adequately. You already know you need calcium to maintain bone density, but other vitamins and minerals act as a support system for calcium, helping it do its job better. These include vitamin D, magnesium and zinc.
Pay more attention to your posture – how you sit and stand. Sitting or standing in a hunched position stretches ligaments in your neck and spine and may cause the supporting muscles to weaken. This makes you look shorter in height and contributes to back and neck pain. When you stand up straight, you are taller. Give your spine the support it needs by strengthening your back and core muscles through exercise.
Make Bone Health a Priority
Some loss of height happens naturally with age. You can hang onto more height by doing regular aerobic and resistance training. Losing height at a rapid rate is abnormal and may be a sign of vertebral compression fractures in the spine due to osteoporosis. Just as you measure your weight and your blood pressure, measure your height at least every five to ten years to make sure you’re not losing more than a third of an inch per decade. Lastly, make sure you’re feeding your bones with good nutrition including enough minerals and vitamin D.
References:
AARP Blog. “What Height Loss Says about Your Health”
Medline Plus. “Compression Fractures of the Back”
Am Fam Physician. 2004 Jan 1;69(1):111-116.
Medscape.com website. “Height Loss in Older Women May Signal Vertebral Fracture”
National Osteoporosis Foundation. “Osteoporosis and Your Spine”
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