1, one of the misconceptions: osteoporosis is a lack of calcium, as long as enough calcium is added, osteoporosis will not occur.
In fact, osteoporosis is not only a lack of calcium, osteoporosis has many causes or causative factors, such as
(1) low body weight.
(2) low sex hormones.
(3) smoking.
(4) excessive alcohol consumption.
(5) excessive consumption of coffee and carbonated beverages.
(6) Lack of physical activity.
(7) Dietary calcium and vitamin D deficiency (low light exposure or low intake).
(8) Suffering from diseases that affect bone metabolism, such as thyroid, parathyroid disease, diabetes, etc.
(9) Application of drugs that affect bone metabolism, such as hormones, immunosuppressants, etc.
(10) Elderly population: women at the age of R65 and men at the age of R70. Among them, calcium deficiency is only one of the many reasons, of course, simple calcium supplementation is not enough to prevent osteoporosis.
2.Myth No. 2: Osteoporosis has nothing to do with young people.
In fact, osteoporosis can be divided into three main types.
(1) primary osteoporosis, including: senile osteoporosis and postmenopausal osteoporosis, the highest incidence of this type of osteoporosis, mainly affecting the elderly, not related to young people.
(2) Secondary osteoporosis: secondary to other causes, such as: secondary to some definite boom in the shoulder. In addition, other types of bone metabolic diseases that are disseminated should not be ignored, such as parathyroid disease and adult vitamin D deficiency, which often occur in young people.
(3) Idiopathic osteoporosis occurs in young people, including: osteoporosis in adolescents; osteoporosis in young adults and adults; osteoporosis in women during pregnancy and lactation. Therefore, young people with back pain, bone and joint pain or fractures after minor trauma should also be promptly consulted to rule out osteoporosis.
3. Myth No. 3: Fracture will not occur if there is no history of trauma.
Bones with osteoporosis are very fragile, and some slight movements are often not perceived (i.e. no obvious history of trauma), but can cause fractures: coughing, sneezing, lifting heavy objects or holding children, even breathing hard, etc. Common fracture sites: vertebrae, ribs, radius, upper end of the femur, these minor fractures can bring serious consequences to the patient, so attention should be paid to the examination and early diagnosis and timely treatment.
4.Myth No. 4: There is no need to do bone densitometry because of osteoporosis.
Bone densitometry can not only be used to diagnose osteoporosis, but also be used to follow up the changes of osteoporosis and evaluate the effect of osteoporosis medication. Therefore, patients who have clearly suffered from osteoporosis can have bone densitometry regularly to understand the changes of osteoporosis and evaluate the effect of osteoporosis medication. Generally speaking, bone density can be checked once a year.
5, misconception No. 5: normal blood calcium, that is, no calcium deficiency, even if suffering from osteoporosis, do not need to supplement calcium.
Normal blood calcium is not the same as normal calcium in the bones. The calcium content in the blood is regulated by a variety of hormones to maintain it within a narrow normal range, these hormones are: parathyroid hormone, calcitonin, active vitamin D. When the calcium intake is insufficient or lost and the body is deficient in calcium, the hormones will regulate the osteoclasts to reabsorb bone and release calcium from the bone, a huge calcium reserve, into the blood to maintain the blood calcium within the normal range, at this time, the bone in the When dietary calcium intake is increased, calcium reserves are rebuilt by osteoblasts re-forming bone, and osteoporosis can occur if the above balance is disrupted. It is important to emphasize that primary osteoporosis, even if a serious fracture occurs, the blood calcium level is still normal, so calcium supplementation cannot be briefly based on the blood calcium level alone.
6. Myth No. 6: Vitamin D is calcium tablets.
The answer is no. However, there is a close relationship between vitamin D and calcium tablets: the absorption of calcium must require the participation of vitamin D.
(1) Vitamin D is a faithful partner of calcium and can promote intestinal calcium absorption.
(2) “Active” vitamin D is the activated form of vitamin D. Vitamin D itself is inactive and needs to be converted into “active” vitamin D by the liver and kidneys before it can play its biological role.
(3) Alfacalcidol and osteotriol are “active” vitamin D. However, the former needs to be further transformed by the kidneys before it can take effect, while the latter can function directly.
7, Myth #7: Osteoporosis is caused by natural aging and does not require treatment.
With the increase of human life expectancy, the aging population is increasing, and the incidence of some diseases related to the increase of g is also increasing year by year. The four major diseases that the elderly need to pay attention to are: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and osteoporosis, all of which are related to the increase of g, and can be said to be related to natural aging, but not without treatment or without treatment. In fact, all of the above diseases can be prevented and treated, among which osteoporosis can be treated through lifestyle intervention, calcium supplementation and, if necessary, medication to reduce pain and prevent fractures, thus improving the quality of life of the elderly and extending their life expectancy.
8. Myth No. 8: Treatment of osteoporosis is equal to calcium supplementation.
The treatment of osteoporosis is not only calcium supplementation but also comprehensive treatment, the purpose of which is to improve bone mass, enhance bone strength and prevent fractures. The comprehensive treatment includes lifestyle interventions (such as appropriate physical exercise, correction of bad habits, prevention of falls, etc.), calcium supplementation and, if necessary, pharmacological treatment. Drug therapy includes: active vitamin D, estrogen or estrogen receptor modulators, bisphosphonates (such as alendronate), calcitonin, etc. The choice of specific drugs should be based on the doctor’s recommendation.
9, Myth No. 9: There is osteoporosis, can not be supplemented with calcium.
Osteoporosis is often combined with osteophytes (also known as “bone spurs”), and osteophytes are often secondary to osteoporosis after the body’s compensatory process of ectopic deposition of calcium, when calcium is often deposited on the surface of the bone and joint and the formation of “bone spurs”, calcium supplementation can Calcium supplementation can correct the calcium deficiency of the body, thus partially correcting this abnormal process and reducing the formation of “bone spurs”, or even reducing the formed “bone spurs”, so patients suffering from osteophytes who also suffer from osteoporosis still need calcium supplementation.
10, misconception 10: suffering from “kidney stones”, can not be supplemented with calcium, otherwise, it will aggravate the kidney stones.
There are many reasons for kidney stones, such as urinary tract deformity, urinary tract obstruction, excessive alkalization of urine or excessive oxalic acid in urine, or even excessive release of bone calcium due to calcium deficiency in the body and further excessive excretion through urine, etc. Of course, excessive calcium supplementation or application of active vitamin D can also lead to kidney stones.
It should be emphasized that patients with kidney stones should pay attention to the following aspects.
(1) To find the cause of the “kidney stone”, such as hyperparathyroidism, urinary tract malformation, renal tubular acidosis, etc.
(2) Monitoring of blood calcium.
(3) Monitor urinary calcium and urinary pH.
(4) Individualized calcium supplementation for different conditions.