What is osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is a systemic disorder of bone metabolism caused by various like parental causes. It is not mainly characterized by a decrease in the organic composition of the bone matrix and calcium salt deposition per unit volume, but the basic structure remains unchanged. Osteoporosis is not an independent disease and is a serious social problem clinically, especially in an increasingly elderly society. Osteoporosis can affect bones throughout the body, with the vertebrae hip and wrist bones showing the most pronounced performance. What are the types of osteoporosis? Osteoporosis can be divided into three main categories: the first is primary osteoporosis, which is a physiological degenerative lesion that inevitably occurs with age. The second type is secondary osteoporosis, which is induced by some factors such as other diseases or drugs. Such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis and long-term use of hormones. The third category is idiopathic osteoporosis, mostly seen in adolescents or adults between the ages of 8 and 14 years old, most of whom have a genetic family history, more women than men. Women with osteoporosis during pregnancy and lactation can also be included in idiopathic osteoporosis. Who is prone to osteoporosis? 1.Postmenopausal women: the decrease of estrogen level after menopause, resulting in increased bone resorption, is one of the important causes of osteoporosis. 2, middle-aged and elderly people: the disorder of bone metabolism due to the imbalance of calcium-regulating hormone secretion, in addition, the decrease of digestive function and outdoor exercise are the important reasons why the elderly are prone to osteoporosis. What are the manifestations of osteoporosis? 1. Pain. The most common symptom of primary osteoporosis is low back pain, which accounts for 70% to 80% of the patients with pain. Pain spreads along the spine to both sides, decreases when lying on the back, increases when posterior extension or prolonged standing or sitting, is light during the day, increases at night and early morning when waking up, and increases when bending, muscle movement, coughing, and bowel movement. Patients often experience significant pain when they change from a quiet state to an active one. Bone pain generally occurs when 12% or more of bone mass is lost. The nature of the pain includes soreness, swelling, persistent hidden pain, etc. It is mostly accompanied by weakness of the limbs, pain in some muscles and joints, and there is often obvious pressure pain, percussion pain or squeezing pain in the back of the waist, hip and other bone pain areas. 2. Shortening of body length and hunchback. Mostly appear after the pain. 3.Fracture. This is the most common and serious complication of degenerative osteoporosis. 4.Decreased respiratory function. Compression fractures of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, backward curvature of the spine and thoracic deformity can significantly reduce lung capacity and maximum air exchange, and patients can often experience chest tightness, shortness of breath and dyspnea. The onset of osteoporosis is slow too cattle generally extremely poor clinical manifestations mild or only low back pain rarely have nerve root compression or irritation effect symptoms if the low back pain suddenly intensifies then more predicts the occurrence of fracture. What is the awareness of osteoporosis? Is it being treated promptly? At present, people still lack understanding of osteoporosis, some regard it as an inevitable manifestation of ageing, which is not surprising; some think that there is no good way to prevent and control it, so they can do nothing and let it develop naturally, thus delaying the time of diagnosis and treatment. Modern medicine believes that osteoporosis is preventable and treatable. How is osteoporosis diagnosed? Although osteoporosis is a silent and chronic disease, early diagnosis and treatment are as important as for other diseases. The currently accepted method for diagnosing osteoporosis and understanding the progression of the disease is a bone mineral density (BMD) test. BMD allows physicians to assess a patient’s bone status, predict their risk of future fractures and understand the efficacy of medications used. What are the treatments for osteoporosis? 1.Medication: such as calcium preparations, estrogens, calcitonin, bisphosphonates, etc. 2.Physical therapy: osteoporosis treatment device. 3.Surgical treatment: vertebroplasty PVP, posterior kyphoplasty PKP. How do patients with osteoporosis undergo surgical treatment? The minimally invasive interventional therapy carried out by our spine surgery, vertebroplasty PVP or kyphoplasty PKP, for the treatment of spinal compression fractures caused by osteoporosis, can effectively treat patients with severe low back pain and relieve patients of their worries. The treatment time of percutaneous vertebroplasty is short. During the surgery, only an incision of nearly 3 – 5 mm in diameter is opened at the patient’s surgical site, and after puncture to the vertebral lesion, bone cement is injected to strengthen the vertebral body, reduce the pressure of the collapsed vertebral body, increase the strength of the spine, and improve the role of spinal stability, which fundamentally prevents paralysis and relieves pain. The surgery is less invasive and the patient recovers quickly, and can be out of bed in 1 – 2 days after surgery and discharged from the hospital in 3 – 5 days. At present, our department has treated more than 100 patients with osteoporotic spinal compression fractures, all of whom have obtained very good treatment results. How to prevent osteoporosis The focus of prevention and treatment is to prevent the occurrence of fractures Bone mass in young and middle-aged years is very important last year Children who serve the original bone reserves are more in old age even if they lose some of their remaining bone mass is still enough to maintain the needs of bone metabolism In order to prevent osteoporosis or slow down its development in young and middle-aged years that is, we should pay attention to exercise and nutrition to old age more emphasis should be placed on calcium and sex hormone supplementation. Postmenopausal women require about mg of calcium per day, which is much higher than their daily intake. A high-calcium diet can inhibit age-related osteoporosis and reduce the incidence of fractures, and the absorption of calcium requires a normal self-esteem level of vitamin D. For those who do not receive enough sunlight, it is advisable to take international units of vitamin D daily. must be administered under the supervision of a physician.