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2025 Magnet® Redesignation Feedback

The Magnet® designation for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center is the pre-eminent recognition for hospital systems in the United States.

ChristianaCare Health System was designated as a Magnet organization in 2010, 2015, and 2020 by the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® and are now applying for redesignation.

We invite patients, family members, staff, and other interested parties to provide feedback via email or direct mail. For more information, please click here.

Osteoporosis Prevention And Treatment

About Osteoporosis

A silent disease with no symptoms.

What is Osteoporosis? Peak Bone Mass Osteoporosis Facts Contact Us

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bone density and quality are reduced, resulting in bone fragility.

Osteoporosis is a silent disease, because there are no symptoms until a bone breaks.

People with osteoporosis may notice a loss in height or break bones due to a simple fall, by bumping into furniture or even coughing.

Knowing your bone density is the first step to avoiding broken bones and fragility fractures that can result from osteoporosis or low bone density.

Osteoporosis Prevention

Your bone density depends on a variety of genetic, lifestyle and medical factors. Some factors, such as diet and exercise, can be controlled; others must be managed.

To ensure your healthiest bones, be sure to eat a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, exercise regularly doing weight-bearing activities and avoid tobacco, excessive alcohol and caffeine.

Osteoporosis Risk Factors

You may be at higher risk for osteoporosis if you:

Smoke or abuse alcohol. Both activities can advance bone loss, as well as contribute to many other health problems.
Consume too much caffeine, salt and soft drinks.
Have a family history of osteoporosis.
Have had previous broken bones
Are a woman, although up to 1 in 4 men will develop osteoporosis past age 50.
Have low body weight.
Are a woman who has missed periods for several months and/or reached menopause.
Are a woman who reached menopause before 40.
Have had certain medical conditions, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, anorexia nervosa or other eating disorders, celiac disease, depression, hyperparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism, liver disease, and other illnesses.
Have taken certain medications, including steroids, some antacid medicines, Dilantin, phenobarbital, Heparin, cancer drugs, certain antidepressants and some diabetes medications, among others.
Eat a diet low in calcium, dairy products and vitamin D.
Do little or no weight-bearing exercises.

Working together, the team shapes and continually refines a plan of care suited to each person’s needs.

Peak Bone Mass

Throughout your life, you constantly lose old bone and make new bone. Children and teenagers make new bone faster than they lose old bone. Their bones increase in density until they reach what experts call peak bone mass.

Peak bone mass is the point when you have the greatest amount of bone you will ever have. It usually happens between the ages of 18 and 25.

Having higher peak bone mass means that you are less likely to break a bone or to get osteoporosis later in life. Lower peak bone mass increases your chance of getting osteoporosis.

A diagram showing cells of varying levels of bone health

Osteoporosis Facts*

54 million Americans have low bone density or osteoporosis.
One in two women and up to one in four men over the age of 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis.
The disease causes an estimated 2 million broken bones every year.
While common among older, Caucasian women, osteoporosis also affects minority women and men of all ethnicities.
Approximately 2 million American men already have osteoporosis. About 12 million more are at risk.
Men older than 50 are more likely to break a bone due to osteoporosis than they are to get prostate cancer.

Although there is no cure for osteoporosis, there are steps you can take to prevent, slow or stop its progress. In some cases, you may even be able to improve bone density and reverse the disorder to some degree.

*From the National Osteoporosis Foundation