Osteoporosis is a common disease, with nearly 100 million people in China suffering from osteoporosis, especially prone to postmenopausal women and older men. The symptom of osteoporosis is pain, most commonly in the lower back, legs, joints, and in severe cases, the whole body can cause skeletal pain. The most direct and serious consequence of osteoporosis is fracture. Fractures caused by osteoporosis can occur in all parts of the body, but the most common sites are the hip, spine, wrist and ribs. When occurring in the spine, it can cause shortening of height, hunchback, thoracic deformity, and even affect respiratory function. Fractures caused by osteoporosis in the elderly do not heal easily, resulting in long-term bed rest, inability to take care of themselves, and depression, which not only seriously affect the physical and mental health and quality of life of the elderly, but also the combined respiratory and circulatory system diseases can be life-threatening and greatly increase the mortality rate of patients. Therefore, the fracture caused by osteoporosis is figuratively referred to as the “invisible killer” of the elderly.
invisible killer”. Osteoporosis is more common in women, and as a result, women have a higher lifetime risk of hip fracture than the combined risk of breast, cervical, uterine and ovarian cancers. In conclusion, osteoporosis should be of greater concern in the elderly, especially in postmenopausal women.