Osteoporosis
Did you know that every other women and one in five men over 50 years old suffere an osteoporotic breakdown till the end of his/her life?
The consequences of osteoporotic fracture can be severe, as every fifth woman with a hip fracture die within the first year after the fracture.
Therefore we recommend a measurement of bone mineral density to people:
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with bone fractures in a family,
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with fracture in adulthood during a small fall or hit,
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women aged over 65 and men aged over 70 years,
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smokers
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with the excessive consumption of alcohol,
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with low weight,
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with the onset of menopause before 45 years,
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a loss of a period for long periods (more than 1 year),
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being treated with certain drugs (glucocorticoids, inhibitors, hormones ...),
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certain diseases, for example thyroid disease, rheumatic diseases ....
Osteoporosis - the silent and dangerous disease is considered the most common chronic disease of the bone, which is characterized by low bone mineral density and demolishen of bone microarchitecture. The result is poor quality of bones and increased bone fragility, which means that these patients break their bones during a small fall from the standing height in which healthy bone does not break. Osteoporosis is a very common disease and with increasing in age of the population is becoming an increasing public health problem. Estimates that every other woman and every fifth man after fifty years will suffere osteoporotic fractures until the end of life are very eloquent. Among patients with osteoporosis is the highest proportion of women, 80%, because they have less bone mass, in addition, due to the rapid decline of female sex hormones after menopause bone degradation accelerates. The most typical osteoporotic fractures are fractures of the wrist, vertebral and hip fractures. Fractures resulting from osteoporosis may have a variable length and intensive impacts. May lead to temporary or permanent loss of ability to carry out activities of daily living, loss of independence, severe pain which greatly degrade the quality of life of the individual. It can even cause death of the patient.
Be aware of the risk of osteoporosis and to draw attention to this danger to friends, co-workers is very important, as this can save many unnecessary complication.
DETECTION of osteoporosis mostly happens with the first fracture, because before that most people do not know they have it. It is therefore that osteoporosis is considered for silent disease because before the first fracture, which means that the disease has progressed, does not cause any problems. The disease can be detected with the method for measuring bone mineral density which quickly, safely and accurately measure bone mineral density, allows the diagnosis of osteoporosis risk assessment of fracture and to monitor the effectiveness of treatment. We recommend the measurement to all who belong to the group with a higher risk of developing osteoporosis. This group includes people whose parents have broken their hip in the minor fall, the persons who themselves have suffered a fracture in the minor fall, the person whose height was reduced by more than three centimeters, persons who are or have been treated with corticosteroids, some medicines used to treat breast cancer and prostate cancer, people who smoke or consume alcohol daily, in patients with hyperthyroidism, rheumatic diseases, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, women who have lost their menstrual periods before 45 years, and men who have problems due to the lack of male sexual hormones.
For the prevention of osteoporosis we can do a lot on our own, so as to maintain healthy and strong bones. Adequate diet with enough calcium and regular physical activity in childhood and youth can help make our bones stronger and firmer. By doing so, we provide a small decline in bone mass in later years. It is important that we continue with the adequate diet in adulthood, which contains 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium - most of the calcium in our diet is provide by milk and milk products (a pint of milk contains about 250 mg of calcium). In addition to calcium also Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, which in small quantities is taken with food (especially in the more oily sea fish), while the majority is formed under the influence of UV rays on our skin. Due to the risk of being under the influence of UV rays skin cancer develops we recommend to those more vulnerable the consumption of supplements of vitamin D. We provide regular physical activity, stop smoking and consuming alcohol in larger quantities.
Treatment of osteoporosis is based on prevention of fractures. Therapies are for those that have higher risk of fractures. For the treatment effective drugs are available, which reduce the risk of fractures by half. In addition to medication it is essential to provide enough calcium in the diet or from supplements and added vitamin D. Treatment lasts at least three years, if necessary also much longer.