The World Health Organization has designated October 20 each year as World Osteoporosis Day.
Osteoporosis is a worldwide health problem that is attracting increasing attention. At present, there are about 200 million people suffering from osteoporosis worldwide, and its incidence has jumped to the seventh place of common diseases and multi-morbidity. According to statistics, at present, the prevalence of osteoporosis among people over 40 years of age in China is 16.1%, and the occurrence of osteoporosis among people over 60 years of age increases incrementally with age. Therefore, proper understanding and early prevention are particularly important.
What is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a major health hazard for the elderly, just like termites that reside in wooden beams, hollowing out the rotten wood and drying out the aging. Osteoporosis is characterized by a significant reduction in bone mass and destruction of the microstructure of bone, which increases the brittleness of the bone and increases the risk of fracture, and cracks or fractures can occur on their own with minor external force or even without any external action.
What are the types of osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis can be divided into two main categories: the first is primary osteoporosis. It is a physiological degenerative lesion that occurs with age. Primary osteoporosis can be divided into I postmenopausal osteoporosis, II senile osteoporosis, and idiopathic osteoporosis. The second category is secondary osteoporosis. It is osteoporosis that is induced by some factors such as other diseases or medications.
Why does osteoporosis occur?
Under normal circumstances, bone metabolism is in dynamic balance through the formation of new bone by osteoblasts and the breakdown and resorption by osteoclasts. In childhood and adolescence, bone formation is greater than bone resorption; around the age of 30, the peak bone mass is reached and bone formation is equal to bone resorption; thereafter, as age increases, bone resorption is greater than bone formation, making bone density lower and lower, and when bone density is below a certain standard, osteoporosis occurs.
Osteoporosis is more common in women than in men, and the age of onset is also earlier than in men, because women’s estrogen levels drop rapidly after menopause, resulting in a large loss of bone mass.
Who are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis?
1, aging people, postmenopausal women, premature menopausal women and women who have undergone hysterectomy or oophorectomy
2, a large intake of coffee, tea, improper dieting
3, calcium deficiency in diet
4, frequent smokers and drinkers
5.Low exercise, not often in the sun
6.Thin and underweight people
7.Hereditary disease
8. Long-term bedridden
9.History of fracture and family history of fracture
10, long-term use of certain drugs: corticosteroids, thyroxine tablets, diuretics, anti-cancer drugs, acid suppressing stomach drugs, etc.
11. Certain disease states: hyperparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism, chronic liver and kidney diseases, hypoactive liver and kidney, osteoarthrosis, organ transplantation, diabetes, digestive system diseases, tumors, hemodialysis, etc.
What are the clinical manifestations of osteoporosis?
1. Pain. It is the most common symptom of osteoporosis, with low back pain and peripheral pain, accompanied by weakness and cramps.
2. Shortening of body length and hunchback.
3.Fracture. It is the most serious complication of osteoporosis, especially the hip, thoracolumbar spine, wrist is the most common and the most serious consequences.
What are the dangers of osteoporosis?
Patients with low back pain and body aches can affect their mood and lower their quality of life. The shortening of body length and hunchback will affect the aesthetics, while the lungs will be compressed, affecting the respiratory function. Fractures can occur when osteoporosis progresses to a severe level. The mortality rate within one year after hip fracture is 20%, 50% of the patients are disabled for life, and 20% of the patients cannot take care of themselves. Not only does it affect the quality of life and cause unbearable pain, but it is also very expensive. The cost of an ordinary hip fracture is $20,000 to $30,000, and in severe cases, artificial joint replacement can be as high as $80,000 to $90,000. Compression fractures of the spine are also more common, but often the diagnosis and treatment are delayed because they are not given enough attention.
How is osteoporosis diagnosed?
The WHO (World Health Organization) recognizes dual-energy x-ray bone densitometry as the gold standard for diagnosing osteoporosis. The WHO classifies the diagnosis of osteoporosis into four levels: normal bone mass, reduced bone mass, osteoporosis, and severe osteoporosis.
Treatment of osteoporosis.
Pharmacological treatment of osteoporosis is a long-term process, sometimes requiring lifelong medication. Calcium supplementation is a necessary measure for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, but for the treatment of osteoporosis, calcium supplementation alone is absolutely not enough. The Chinese Medical Association’s osteoporosis treatment guidelines state that calcium, vitamin D and its derivatives are only basic supplements and need to be combined with anti-bone resorption therapy drugs such as calcitonin, diphosphonates, selective estrogen receptor modulators, PTH and strontium salts. In addition, patients should review their bone density once a year to understand the effect of treatment.
The purpose of treatment for osteoporosis: to relieve symptoms, reduce bone loss, improve bone density, and prevent fractures from occurring.
Self-care for patients with osteoporosis.
1. Eat more food containing calcium and protein, drink more milk and milk products, and eat more dark green vegetables. Milk and eggs, seafood contain more calcium, fish, chicken, beef rich in protein.
2, when stewing ribs soup, you can add some vinegar to make the calcium in the bone released. However, the fat content in the big bone soup is more, which is not helpful for calcium supplement.
3, avoid excessive tea, coffee and other stimulating things, avoid smoking, avoid alcohol.
4, more sunshine, at least 15-60 minutes of outdoor activities every day, sunshine can increase the body vitamin D, can help the absorption of calcium in the body, strengthen the bone.
5, moderate exercise, can improve the blood supply to the bones, increase bone density.
6, maintain the correct posture, do not hunch over, do not often take a kneeling posture, so as not to increase the burden on the bones.
7, to prevent various accidental injuries, especially to prevent falls.
8, people over 40 years old, should avoid engaging in too intense, too much negative gravity sports.
9, careful use of drugs, such as diuretics, tetracycline, isoniazid, anticancer drugs, prednisone, etc. can affect bone metabolism.
10, calcium injection, D injection is a treatment method handed down from the northeast, is not scientific and incorrect. If the diagnosis of bone loss or osteoporosis is confirmed, it is necessary to take long-term oral specialist drug treatment.
11.Calcium is the basic drug for the treatment of this disease, but calcium alone cannot treat this disease, but needs to be combined with other drugs such as active D treatment.
12.Adhere to the treatment and respect the medical prescription to prevent the bone density from continuing to decline. Regular consultation and examination to understand the effect of treatment.