Causes | Symptoms | Risk Factors | Treatment
Osteoporosis is a type of disease which occur when the bone density is decreased. In this disease due to tissue loss bones become very weak.
This condition is also called Silent Disease because you are unable to feel that your bones are getting weaker. and many more people don’t even know that they are in this condition until their bone is broken.
Hips, spine, and wrist are mostly affected in the osteoporosis. In the whole world every year approximately 9 million fractures are causes because of osteoporosis.
Males and females both can affect by this disease but most of the time it can occur in women after menopause. Because the estrogen is decreased suddenly which is a hormone. That, normally protect against osteoporosis.
As the bones become weaker, the risk of a fracture increase during a fall or even a minor knock.
currently, approx 53 million people are affected in the United States.
Osteoporosis Causes
Bone is a growing tissue that consists mostly of protein collagen and calcium phosphate. The soft framework is provided by protein collagen and the calcium phosphate add strength and hardens to the framework.
Bone is not a static part of the body — it’s constantly being resorbed (broken down) and formed throughout your life.
According to NIH, the entire skeleton of your body is replaced about every 10 years.
From childhood to teenage year, bone creation becomes very quickly than bone resorption. and the result is growth. and formed throughout your life.
An abnormal imbalance between bone resorption and formation is also osteoporosis causes.
you reach your maximum bone density and strength at the age of 30 after that, from time to time, the resorption of bone slowly overtakes the bone formation.
Most of the time it is experienced by women that most bone loss during the first few years after menopause, and they continue to lose bone strength.
Symptoms of osteoporosis
We can say that mainly the bone loss that leads to osteoporosis develops slowly. However, there are no any symptoms, any person does not know that he is suffering from this disease until they experience a fracture after a minor incident, such as a cough, sneeze or a fall.
In common signs includes a decrease in height over time, back pain, collapsed vertebra.
Risk Factors
There are so many factors are included with the higher risk of developing osteoporosis. some peoples with osteoporosis have several risk factors but some have none. The risk factors which are inherent cannot be changed.
Risk factors that can not be changed
- Having a family history of fracture,
- Low estrogen levels in women
- The low testosterone level in men.
- Being a women postmenopausal years.
- Age of 50 or more.
- Having small or thin bones.
Risk factors that you may change
- Lack of exercise
- Long-term use of any particular drugs, like glucocorticoids and some anticoagulants.
- Smoking
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Deficiencies of calcium and vitamin D in the diet.
Risk assessment for bone fracture
“Menopause Before 40? Risk Of Broken Bone May Be Higher ”
With the help of a tool called FRAX Doctor can assess a person’s probability of bone fracture in the next 10 years.
FRAX tool considers various risk factors which are associated with fracture. like age, sex, previous fracture, smoking, weight, height, and others. A person’s bone mineral density of hip is measured by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan, Commonly known as DXA or DEXA scan. this tool is available online, but if you want to use it then it is necessary that you know about your bone mineral density at the hip.
DEXA test results
The result of this test is given in a DEXA T-score or a Z-score.
In the T-score, the patient’s bone mass is compared with peak bone mass of a younger person.
- -1.0 or above is normal
- from -1.0 to -2.5 suggests mild bone loss
- -2.5 or below indicates osteoporosis
Dexa Z-score
In this text, the patient’s bone mass is compared with that of other people with similar build and age.
This test is generally repeated in every 2 years, this allows for the comparison between results.
Osteoporosis Treatment
Doctors treat osteoporosis with drug therapy the aim of treatment is-
- Maintaining bone mineral density and bone mass.
- Reduce pain
- Prevent fractures
- Prevent the development of osteoporosis
- Maximize the ability to continue with their daily life.
This can happen through preventive lifestyle and the use of supplement and some drugs.
Drug therapy
- Estrogen agonists or antagonists, also known as selective estrogen-receptor modulators, SERMS), for example, raloxifene (Evista): These can reduce the risk of spine fractures in women after menopause.
- RANK ligand (RANKL) inhibitors, such as denosumab (Xgeva): This is immunotherapy and a new type of osteoporosis treatment.
- Bisphosphonates: These are antiresorptive drugs that slow bone loss and reduce fracture risk.
- Calcitonin (Calcimar, Miacalcin): This helps prevent spinal fracture in postmenopausal women, and it can help manage pain if a fracture occurs.
- Parathyroid hormone, for example, teriparatide (Forteo).
Osteoporosis therapy in future
In future, treatment may incorporate stem cell treatment. In 2016, analysts found that infusing a specific sort of stem cell into mice turned around osteoporosis and bone misfortune in a way that could, possibly, advantage people as well.
Discoveries distributed in 2015 recommended that development hormone (GH) taken with calcium and vitamin D supplement could diminish the risk of fractures in the long term.
Likewise in 2015, analysts in the United Kingdom (U.K.) discovered proof that an eating routine containing soy protein and isoflavones may offer security from bone loss and osteoporosis during menopause.
Researchers trust that hereditary factors control up to 75 percent of an individual’s bone mineral density. Specialists are examining which genes are responsible for bone development and loss, with the expectation this may offer better approaches for forestalling osteoporosis in the future.
Prevention
Certain changes in your lifestyle can reduce the risk of osteoporosis in your life.
Intake of calcium and vitamin D rich foods
Calcium is very necessary for bones and ensuring that adequate calcium intake is important.
19 years or above should consume 1,000 mg per day. And women whose age is 51 years and above, and all adults 71 years should have a daily intake of 12,00 mg.
- Green veggies, like broccoli
- Fish with soft bone, like tuna
- Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and yogurt
If dietary intake is not sufficient, you can take supplements.
Vitamin D plays an important role, it helps the body to absorb calcium. You can maintain it by including fortified foods, saltwater fish, and liver in your diet.
Complications
As age passes bones become weaker, and fractures may occur more frequently with age they take a long time to heal.
This can lead to pain and loss of stature. I take a long time to recover a broken hip, and the person is unable to live independently for a long time.
So, it is very important to take action to prevent falls among people with osteoporosis.
What to eat and what should not eat in osteoporosis
Our daily life routine we take so many foods and we don’t some of them are useful for our body but some are harmful but we don’t know what is necessary for our health hear we are going to describe some ingredient which is necessary for our body and also describes the source of these ingredients.
Best food sources of calcium
- Plant-based milk- it contains soy and almond milk, which has as much calcium as cow’s milk.
- Green Vegetables- cabbage, spinach, and collards can provide 100 to 250 mg of calcium per 1 cup of cooked vegetable.
- Tofu- it contains 250 mg calcium per ½ cup.
- Milk made products like yogurt, or cheese provides approx 300 mg of calcium.
Vitamin D rich Food-
Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption so it is necessary to take vitamin D rich food to strengthen your bone. Only some foods are vitamin D rich here we are going to discuss some of them.
- Egg Yolks, Beef Liver, Pork, and Cheese
- Vitamin D-Fortified Beverages
- Fatty Fish
The food you should avoid
- Unlimited alcohol intake
- Salt.
- Caffeine
- Cold drinks
After all these above discussions we can conclude that osteoporosis is such type of disease in which the bone of the body is getting weaker. And An abnormal imbalance between bone resorption and formation is also osteoporosis causes.