Watch out for osteoporosis

  As the world’s population is getting older and an elderly-oriented society is coming, osteoporotic nuclear osteoporotic fracture, one of the diseases of old age, has caused many people to suffer from it, seriously affecting the quality of life of patients and being one of the main causes of disability and crippling death in the elderly. The prevalence of osteoporosis in China is about 30%-35% for women and 10% for men in people over 60 years old.  There are about 88 million osteoporosis patients in China, and the annual medical cost is estimated to be about 15 billion RMB by conservative estimate! Osteoporosis is harmful to human health in many ways, such as causing back pain, shortening height and hunchback, which affects the quality of life; its more serious consequence is to cause fractures. Fractures caused by osteoporosis mainly occur in the spine, wrist, ankle bone and hip.  For example, compression fractures of the spine can cause paraplegia in severe cases; fractures of the wrist and ankle can affect the patient’s ability to live; fractures of the hip lead to lower limb movement disorders, and 15%-20% of patients die from various complications; among the survivors, 50% are still disabled and lose the ability to take care of themselves, which brings a heavy burden to the family and society.  Osteoporosis is a condition in which the organic matter and calcium salts deposited in the skeletal framework are simultaneously lost from the bones outward, resulting in a decrease in bone mass, thinning of the outer layer of the skeleton, thinning of the trabeculae of the inner cancellous bone, and an increase in fractures and hollow fractures, making the bones loose and brittle and no longer able to withstand the physical burden of daily activities, thus making them prone to fractures.  The most common clinical symptoms of osteoporosis are pain in bones and joints of different degrees and in different parts of the body, without redness or swelling of joints, but often accompanied by weakness of the back and legs, cramps in both lower limbs, difficulty or limitation of activities such as bending, turning, squatting and walking. Some patients have short body, hunchback, many patients can repeatedly fracture, and even slight external force, such as coughing, squatting or drying clothes can lead to fracture.  For patients with the above clinical manifestations of osteoporosis, they should go to the hospital to have their bone density measured as early as possible, so that they can be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.  Once osteoporosis is diagnosed, the patient should receive relevant treatment in hospital immediately. There are many medications available, and effective treatment can significantly relieve symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life while delaying bone loss and prevention.