According to statistics, about 90 million people in China are affected by osteoporosis. Especially for women over 50 years old, about 1/3 of them will have fracture due to osteoporosis. What are the early symptoms of osteoporosis? How can early detection be achieved? Can calcium supplementation alone cure osteoporosis? In an interview with our reporter, experts said that there are no obvious symptoms of osteoporosis in the early stage, so relatively speaking, early bone density screening is an easy and simple way to detect osteoporosis as early as possible. In addition, simple calcium supplementation can not treat osteoporosis, especially for people with poor calcium absorption capacity, such as the elderly.
There is a trend towards younger onset of osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis itself is more common in the elderly, and most of it is primary in nature. With age, the elderly have a lack of calcium absorption capacity and are prone to osteoporosis as hormone levels decline. The human body generally reaches peak bone mass around the age of 35-45 and decreases thereafter. However, not everyone is able to reach peak bone mass regardless of their lifestyle, and some people’s peak bone mass at the age of 35-45 is much lower than that of their peers.
From the current situation, osteoporosis does tend to become younger and younger. There are several reasons why some young people have osteoporosis. First, many young people are now relatively less physically active and their bone density tends to decline. In addition, many women will block the sun in hot weather, in fact, ultraviolet radiation itself is beneficial for the absorption of calcium. Long-term, this will affect the body’s absorption of calcium. It should be noted that the relatively severe osteoporosis that occurs in some young people may also be secondary.
Postmenopausal women are prone to osteoporosis.
It has been reported that women are prone to high incidence of osteoporosis after menopause, when they should also pay attention to bone density screening to prevent the appearance of osteoporosis. Pan Yongyuan explained that after menopause, women’s body secretion of estrogen will decrease, which also makes postmenopausal women become a high incidence of osteoporosis. It is also because of menopause that women are more likely to develop osteoporosis compared to men, and in terms of age, generally speaking, the age at which women develop osteoporosis is generally about 10 years earlier than men.
No obvious symptoms in early stages of osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis does not have obvious symptoms in the early stage, and to detect osteoporosis in time, it is usually achieved through early bone density screening. Bone density can reflect the degree of osteoporosis. Generally speaking, the change of bone density in men is relatively smooth, while in women, there is a tendency of sudden decrease in bone density after menopause.
Screening about bone density is more diverse, including multiple sites such as wrist bone and heel screening, but in clinical practice, hip bone and vertebral bone screening are generally used as the standard when determining bone density. If the bone density screening is found to be low, we should pay attention to the appearance of osteoporosis, and can also take timely treatment measures.
Hip and vertebral bone screening is generally used as the standard.
Pan Yongyuan further explained that the reason why the hip bone and vertebrae screening as a standard is because the hip bone and vertebrae are the weight-bearing bones of the human body, while the examination of the wrist bone and heel cannot be used as the final standard because they are non-weight-bearing bones, which themselves are prone to some conditions, but these screenings can be used as part of the osteoporosis screening as a reference.
In fact, bone density screening is not the only way to detect osteoporosis early, there are many other methods that can achieve the same effect, such as quantitative CT testing, ultrasound measurement, etc. However, the economic cost required for bone density screening is low, it is simple and easy to perform itself, and the requirement for medical equipment is not high, so bone density screening is generally the main method in the early screening of osteoporosis.
Screening may be performed in women with menstrual disorders.
Generally speaking, men can start bone density screening around the age of 40-50, and women should undergo bone density screening if they have menstrual instability or menopausal symptoms. Generally speaking, it is not too necessary when you are younger than 40 years old. It is recommended to screen once every six months to once a year, because bone quality changes slowly and no significant changes will occur in a short period of time. In fact, osteoporosis is a disease of aging, and the human bone quality generally goes downhill as we age, etc. The purpose of osteoporosis treatment is twofold: to prevent fractures for those who do not have them, and to slow down the process of bone function decline.
Bone age measurement in children accurately reflects the level of growth and development.
The so-called bone age is the age of the skeleton. Bone age testing is primarily for children. The bone age test is a more accurate reflection of a child’s physical development and whether it corresponds to his or her age, sometimes the human height may not match the age, but the bone age is a more accurate reflection. For example, even if a child reaches adult height, a bone age test can reveal his or her true level of development. In addition, a bone age test can detect endocrine disorders in children in advance, allowing for early detection and treatment. Generally speaking, children’s bone age closes at the age of 16, and the human body will not grow significantly taller, so there is no need for adults to take a bone age test.
Calcium supplementation alone does not cure osteoporosis.
When osteoporosis occurs, can timely calcium supplementation help in some way? What else can be done to prevent the appearance of osteoporosis?
Calcium supplementation alone does not have a significant effect on the treatment of osteoporosis. Especially for the elderly, too much calcium supplementation will be difficult for the body to absorb, and excessive calcium supplementation may lead to some adverse reactions in the body. Regarding the treatment of osteoporosis, one should try to go to the hospital for regular treatment, because the treatment process will be evaluated according to the patient’s own condition in order to determine the suitable treatment method. Self-administered calcium supplementation is not advisable, because calcium supplementation should be accompanied by appropriate supplementation of other substances such as active vitamin D to prevent calcium loss.
In addition, from a dietary approach, consumption of milk is also optional. In general, people should drink 250-500 ml of milk every day to be able to ensure the supplementation of the basic amount of calcium. In addition, the usual diet can add some high-calcium food, such as tofu, which generally has a high calcium content. To prevent the appearance of osteoporosis, we should pay attention to the appropriate increase in exercise, but also appropriate exposure to the sun, that is, “sunbathing”, can promote the body’s absorption of calcium.
As for the length of time of “sunbathing”, Pan Yongyuan suggests an average of about 2 hours a day is appropriate. In summer, the upper arm, face and other parts of the naked is appropriate, you can avoid direct sunlight and the strongest sunlight hours, when indoors, the practice of opening windows to make the sun on the skin is also desirable.