Introduction to osteoporosis
I. Understanding bones
In addition to providing support for muscles, our bones protect vital organs from injury and serve as a storage site for calcium. This calcium is necessary to maintain the function of the body’s cells. Therefore, a healthy bone provides a guarantee for a healthy life. You may think of bones as hard and lifeless. But in reality, bones are living, complex tissues and organs. Before the age of 35, bone production is greater than bone resorption, and bones continue to grow, thicken and lengthen. Therefore, between the ages of 30 and 35, bone volume is large to the highest peak in a lifetime. after the age of 35, bone resorption gradually takes the upper peak, bone volume keeps decreasing, and resorption is greater than formation. It is at this point that bone mass slowly begins to decline, and women begin to lose far more bone mass than men at the time of menopause, when bone mass begins to decline at an accelerated rate. By the age of 70, the amount of bone loss in men and women converges again.
Second, what is osteoporosis
1.Definition
Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic and systemic bone disease characterized by decreased bone mass, increased bone fragility and increased risk of fracture due to the destruction of bone tissue microstructure.
2.Classification
Osteoporosis is divided into three main categories.
Type I primary osteoporosis which is a physiological degenerative lesion that inevitably occurs with age.
Type I: postmenopausal osteoporosis a high conversion type osteoporosis
Type II: senile osteoporosis a low conversion osteoporosis
Type II secondary osteoporosis is osteoporosis induced by some factors such as other diseases or drugs
The third type of idiopathic osteoporosis is mostly seen in adolescents or adults aged 8 to 14 years old, often accompanied by a genetic family history, more in women than in men. Women’s pregnancy, lactation osteoporosis adolescent osteoporosis young adults, adult osteoporosis
3, the clinical manifestations of osteoporosis
1.Pain
Pain is the most common and main symptom of osteoporosis, the reason is due to excessive bone conversion, increased bone resorption resulting in the destruction of bone trabeculae, disappearance, destruction of subperiosteal cortical bone can cause generalized bone pain. In addition, due to osteoporosis, the weight-bearing capacity of the bone is obviously reduced, and the muscle is bound to bear more force, which will inevitably cause muscle fatigue and strain, resulting in muscle and myofascial pain, especially in the waist and back.
2, height shortening, hunchback: it is caused by the deformation of vertebrae due to osteoporosis, and is also one of the important clinical signs.
3, fracture The most serious consequence of osteoporosis is fracture. Clinically, it mainly occurs in the area rich in cancellous bone, mainly in the hip, thoracolumbar spine, distal radius, proximal humerus and ankle. The hip fracture is the most serious, and because the fracture must be bedridden, it is prone to pneumonia, phlebitis, urinary tract infection and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular abnormalities, which is reported abroad to cause 10-20% of patients to die within the first year of onset, and half of the patients cannot take care of themselves.
Third, the harm of osteoporosis
As people’s living standards continue to improve and life expectancy continues to increase, people are no longer just satisfied with the basic life, but also begin to pay attention to their quality of life. With the continuous aging of the population, the issue of aging has become more and more the focus of people’s attention, and osteoporosis, which is unique to middle-aged and elderly people, is bound to attract great attention. Osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures are the most common age-related diseases. The most serious consequence of osteoporosis is fracture, especially hip fracture, which is the most serious. Since the fracture must be bedridden, pneumonia, phlebitis, urinary tract infection and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular abnormalities are prone to occur, and according to foreign reports, 10-20% of patients die within the first year of illness, and half of them cannot take care of themselves. Recent studies have shown that the incidence of osteoporotic fractures has exceeded the incidence of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers in women and prostate cancer in men. Studies in various regions have shown that the incidence of osteoporosis and its osteoporotic fractures in China has shown a significant incremental trend. Some information shows that there are 84 million patients in China, and the fracture cases caused are about 15 million. If each case of hospitalization costs 5,000 RMB, it costs 15 billion RMB per year, which brings a heavy burden to the country, society and family.
Fourth, the state of osteoporosis in Chinese elderly people
Internationally recognized osteoporosis is a “systemic bone disease characterized by a decrease in bone mass and microstructural degeneration, which increases the brittleness of bones and makes them vulnerable to fracture.” As the population ages, many chronic diseases are becoming major health problems that jeopardize senior living.
Shanghai is the highest aging city in China. According to the 1990 census, people aged 60 and 65 accounted for 13.96% and 9.24% of the total population of 13 million, rising to 17.8% and 12.5% in 1999. The life expectancy of the population increased from 45 years in 1949 to 74 years for men and 78 years for women in 1999. Thus with the aging of society, the incidence of osteoporosis can be expected to increase year by year.
The results of the study indicate that.
1. the incidence of osteoporotic fractures in the elderly: in suburban areas, the incidence of fractures was 20.10% (15.58% in men and 23.43% in women). Fractures occur more often in women after the age of 60 than 59.
2. there was no significant difference in the incidence of fractures between men and women before the age of 59. after the age of 60, fractures were significantly higher in women than in men. fractures before the age of 59 were mostly Colles’ fractures. And after 60 years old, fractures mainly occurred in the proximal femur and distal forearm, and there was no specific fracture site in men.
3. The incidence of hip fractures over 60 years of age ranged from 93.28/10,000 at age 60 to 227.01/10,000 (male) at age 67. 230.84/10,000 and 487.76/10,000 (female).
4. The relationship between fracture and quality of life: older people with fracture have 1-2 years shorter life expectancy than those without fracture.