[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/emotions-and-bone\/high-perceived-stress-level-increases-fracture-risk\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/emotions-and-bone\/high-perceived-stress-level-increases-fracture-risk\/","headline":"High perceived stress level increases fracture risk","name":"High perceived stress level increases fracture risk","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest Do you think you\u2019re a stressed-out person? I certainly think I am \u2014 which is one reason I\u2019m so interested in the results of a new Danish study looking at perceived stress and fracture risk. Not only did the study find that high-stressed participants had a 68% […]","datePublished":"2017-04-18","dateModified":"2026-04-22","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/high-risk-stress-fracture-BB-Blog-3-20.jpg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/high-risk-stress-fracture-BB-Blog-3-20.jpg","height":1109,"width":2120},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/emotions-and-bone\/high-perceived-stress-level-increases-fracture-risk\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o","name":"Stress and Osteoporosis","description":"In this video, Dr.Brown discusses the link between stress and your bones. You will gain an understanding of hormonal pathways involved in stress, and how they effect your bones.\n\n\u2192 Want to learn everything you need to manage & reverse your osteoporosis\/osteopenia naturally in one inspiring weekend with Dr. Brown? Join our bone health retreat & workshop! Learn more here: https:\/\/shop.betterbones.com\/pages\/love-your-bones-love-your-life-virtual-retreat\n\n\u2192 If you are interested in working with Dr. Brown to develop a personalized natural bone health program, read more about consultations here: https:\/\/www.betterbones.com\/consultations\/help-osteoporosis-osteopenia-fracture-healing-bone-health-concerns\/\n\n\u2192 Would you like your questions answered by Dr. Brown?  Comment below and she may address them in a future video!\n\nCheck out our website! \u2192 http:\/\/ www.betterbones.com\n\nWant to connect with Better Bones on social media?\nLike on Facebook \u2192 http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bFollow on Twitter \u2192 http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/drsusanbrown\n\u200bFollow our Instagram \u2192 http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bCheck out our Pinterest \u2192 http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\n#osteoporosis #osteopenia #bonemass #bonehealth #weightandbonemass #womenshealth #drsusanbrown #betterbonesbetterbody #preventosteoporosis\n\nExercise for bone health: patreon.com\/betterbones\n\nTranscription:\nhi this is dr. Susan Brown at the Center\nfor better bones it's my pleasure to be\nwith you again today to talk about bone\nhealth particularly about stress and\nosteoporosis the mission of the Center\nfor better bones is it to Exuma lowers\nthe capacity to maintain excellent bone\nhealth lifelong and to regenerate bone\nat any stage of life what we're really\ntalking about is being fracture free for\nour whole lives and in order to really\ndevelop strong bones for our entire life\nwe really have to move from thinking\nabout bone itself to thinking about the\nwhole body because bone health is really\na whole body issue and in fact it's an\nissue of the mind and the body and in\nfurther fact the mind and the body are\nreally not separate units but one single\nunit a unit of intelligence and\ninformation that's flowing through the\nbody today we're going to talk a little\nbit about trying to get a glimpse of the\namazing nature of the human body of the\nterrific flow of intelligence and\ninformation and how they're all relates\nto brain functioning and to stress and\nthen how stress really can affect bone\nhealth you know in the better bones\nprogram we really generally most often\ntalk about the material aspects of bone\nhealth the nutritional supplements we\nshould use the alkaline diet the kinds\nof foods that are really super foods for\nbone health the sorts of exercises we do\nto physically enhance our strength of\nour muscles and of our bones we talk\nabout material features as a rule but\ntoday we're going to talk about the non\nmaterial features these questions of\nenergy information and these questions\nof thought how thought which relates to\nemotions and then how the emotions\nanother non material factor converts\nitself into chemicals\nand actually physical changes within the\nbone as we think about it we know that\nthoughts and emotions can be either on\nthe conscious level or on the\nunconscious level and when we talk about\nstress and osteoporosis we're often\ntalking about an unconscious stimulation\nof emotion of thought that then produces\na cascade of chemicals that can affect\nbone and it's kind of fun to take just a\nfew minutes and explore how this all\nhappens\nnone of us plan consciously I'm going to\nwake up tomorrow and be anxious or I'm\ngoing to wake up tomorrow and be angry\nthose are automatic reactions that\nhappen to us when certain neural\npathways certain pathways in the brain\nare stimulated and often because these\npathways have been established in\nchildhood just for example if if my\nmother had a severe accident and the\nambulance rushed to the house when I was\na little kid and I was terribly afraid I\nwas going to lose my mother every time I\nhear an ambulance I'm like automatically\nwithout thinking trigger into this fear\nresponse a response that sets off a\nchemical cascade that eventually ends up\neven down the effecting bone now we'll\ntake a minute and just walk through some\nillustrations of that cascade very\nsimplified just because it's so really\nfascinating but most of these so most\nresponses are unconscious and one of our\nchallenges is to recognize that we're\nbeing we're being reactive we're being\nstimulated unconsciously and to move\ntowards the deliberate creation of\ndifferent neural pathways and different\nthoughts that establish neural pathways\nit reminds us of the old saying like one\nof my favorite sayings from Deepak\nChopra is that nothing holds more potti\nnothing holds more power over the body\nthan thoughts held in the mind and so\npart of our attempt is to become more\naware of the thoughts we hold in our\nmind and how they might affect our","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7VQXkRwLH8o\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7VQXkRwLH8o\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7VQXkRwLH8o\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7VQXkRwLH8o\/sddefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7VQXkRwLH8o\/maxresdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2017-09-01T17:54:04+00:00","duration":"PT34M21S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7VQXkRwLH8o","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown","description":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD, is a medical anthropologist, a New York State Certified Nutritionist, and the author of Better Bones, Better Body -- the first comprehensive look at natural bone health. Dr. Brown specializes in osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone health regeneration, and auto-immune disease. She is also famous for her natural approach to bone health; check out her Better Bones programs and products.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ytc\/AIdro_m0l08uY9k8RO1FbN8-VsYIOa8fiq9BtocNNM_k3xw7a7s=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":2407}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7VQXkRwLH8o#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":58}]},"about":["Emotions & Bone","Fractures & Healing"],"wordCount":508,"keywords":["Stress","Fracture","Worry","meditation"],"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDo you think you\u2019re a stressed-out person? I certainly think I am \u2014 which is one reason I\u2019m so interested in the results of a new Danish study looking at perceived stress and fracture risk.Not only did the study find that high-stressed participants had a 68% increased risk of hip fracture and a 37% increased risk of any osteoporotic fracture. The research also suggests that it\u2019s not just the stress itself, but our perception of that stress that\u2019s important.The study determined this with nearly 8,000 Danish adults age 55+ who were categorized according to their self-perceived level of stress. Note that the researchers didn\u2019t try to measure the level or type of stress itself! Instead, they asked the individual participants to describe what their level of stress was \u2014 then watched to see who in the cohort experienced an osteoporotic fracture over the next five years.The one-fourth of people who reported a \u201chigh\u201d level of perceived stress had the significantly increased risk\u00a0of fractures \u2013 again a 68% increased risk of hip fracture and a 37% increased risk of any osteoporotic fracture \u2013 compared to those who reported \u201clow\u201d perceived stress.How to free yourself from worry and stressI\u2019m quick to identify myself with that high-risk cohort. My mother dubbed me her \u201cworry wart\u201d and that personality trait still challenges me today.That\u2019s why I took up meditation and have developed various methods to \u201cdial down\u201d my perception of stress. A favorite self-help approach is what I call the \u201cBE FREE\u201d method. Those of you who are also \u201cworry warts\u201d might give it a try.BreathE: Throughout the day, I consciously try to stop what I\u2019m doing and slow down my breathing. Just two or three slow, deep breaths offer a calming chance for the more rational part of my brain to kick in. This exercise is all the more important when I find myself in a stressful situation.Feel: Once I\u2019m quieted down, I focus my attention inward, telling myself to note the emotional response I am feeling\u2014fear, anger, frustration, jealousy, or whatever. I just allow myself to feel that particular energy.RElease: Next, I intentionally release the negative emotion, and the energy behind it dissipates. I can feel my heartbeat slow, and the anxiety-producing stress hormones begin to quiet down.Envision: Still taking deep, conscious breaths, I asked myself, \u201cHow do I want to feel?\u201d or \u201cHow do I want to be?\u201d Then I envision that desired energy flowing through my body.If you give it a try, let me know how my \u201cBE FREE\u201d method worked for you. Even more, perhaps you\u2019d like to share some of your personal methods and tips for maintaining resilience amid the ups, downs and of modern life. I would love to hear about them!Reference:Pedersen AB, Baggesen LM, Ehrenstein V, et al. Perceived stress and risk of any osteoporotic fracture. Osteoporosis International, 2016;27:2035\u20132043.To understand the underlying bone health picture, visit our natural osteoporosis support guide."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Emotions And Bone","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/emotions-and-bone\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"High perceived stress level increases fracture risk","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/emotions-and-bone\/high-perceived-stress-level-increases-fracture-risk\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]