Osteoporosis is a disease that affects bones. This disorder is common in women. Read on to learn more about osteoporosis and its symptoms. Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become fragile, thus they are at risk of fracture. Osteoporosis is due to reduction in bone mass, due to aging process. There are other symptoms associated with osteoporosis like stooped posture, chronic pain and disability. Know more about the causes and symptoms of this disease.
What is Osteoporosis?
Literally, it means "porous bone".
Osteoporosis is a disease which makes bones fragile and easy to fracture; and is mostly found in post-menopausal women. Osteoporosis is caused due to a reduction in bone mass as age increases. Maximum bone mass occurs between ages 20 and 30. After 30, bone mass gradually reduces. In women after menopause, bone mass shrinks even faster. This increases the risk of fracture.
Besides fractures, osteoporosis also causes stooped posture, chronic pain and disability. It shows no symptoms; it progresses painlessly until the bones become so fragile that even routine activities (like coughing or hugging) cause a fracture. In women, this disease is more common than stroke, heart attack and
breast cancer combined.
What are the Symptoms of Osteoporosis? How is it diagnosed?
Osteoporosis has no symptoms. A woman can feel perfectly well today and have a hip fracture tomorrow. Even x-rays reveal the disease only after it has reached advanced stage. Bone Mineral Density Test (BMT) or
Bone Densitometry is a painless procedure that diagnoses osteoporosis at an early stage when its development can be halted with effective treatment.
How Does Osteoporosis Affect the Patient?
Fractures of the hip, spine and wrist are the most common consequences. Hip fracture is the most serious since patients become unable to lead a normal life or move freely; often they have to be admitted to a nursing home. When the spine is affected, a simple action like bending to make the bed can be enough to cause a 'crush fracture'. This causes humped back, decreased height and chronic pain. A fall that would just sprain the average person can easily break one or more bones in somebody with severe osteoporosis.
What Are the Treatments for Osteoporosis?
There are some medications which are used for treating osteoporosis. A bone density test is done before starting a treatment to determine the risk of breaking a bone in the coming 10 years. In case if the risk is low, the risk factors causing bone loss and falls are altered instead of recommending medications.
The medications that are usually recommended for treating osteoporosis are basically bisphosphonates. Other medications include medications like Denosumab (Prolia) and Teriparatide (Forteo) which are injected under the skin.
Another treatment that is used for treating osteoporosis is
hormone related treatment. In this treatment estrogen hormone is used in form of injection, oral pills, gel, patch, emulsion or spray. This treatment is used for dealing with menopausal symptoms like osteoporosis, night sweats, hot flashes and other vaginal symptoms.
How to Prevent Osteoporosis?
In order to prevent osteoporosis which is a very common bone disorder in women, women must start taking care of their bone health while they are young. It is a must to follow a healthy lifestyle to have healthy and strong bones for the lifetime. Having a diet rich in
calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K and potassium is a must. It is also very important to stay away from sneaky calcium robbers like caffeine, alcohol and some medications like contraceptive pills and antidepressants which can make the bones weak.
Apart from the above mentioned preventive measures it is also necessary to take the bone density test from time-to-time as per the advice of the doctor. Such test will help to find out the condition of the bones and take right measure at right time in order to prevent bone problems in future.
