Osteoporosis is somewhat taken lightly In recent years, the incidence of osteoporosis has skyrocketed, and the number of osteoporosis patients in China has climbed from 69.44 million six years ago to 100 million now, with a prevalence rate of 6.97%, 56% for people over 60 years old, and as high as 60% to 70% for elderly women. By 2050, osteoporosis is expected to occur in 51% of the population. Osteoporosis has become a serious threat to human health. On the one hand, the incidence of osteoporosis is high and harmful, but on the other hand, people’s awareness is generally vague and they do not pay attention to it, always thinking that osteoporosis is far away from them, and it is not as scary as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Chen Caiwang, director of Benxi Health Management Center, has been concerned about the progress of osteoporosis research for many years, and his explanation will help us reacquaint ourselves with the “invisible killer” osteoporosis. How osteoporosis comes about Osteoporosis is a degenerative bone disease, characterized by less mineral content in the bone, reduced bone density and increased brittleness, which makes it easy to fracture. The human body has the highest bone mass and bone density at the age of 30, and by the age of 60 to 80, bone loss can reach 20% to 30% in men and 35% to 50% in women. The metabolism and renewal of bone tissue are slow. The bone reconstruction cycle of adult cancellous bone is 4-5 months, while cortical bone is longer, and it takes about 10 years to renew all over again. The annual bone turnover rate is 25% for cancellous bone and 4% for cortical bone. Osteoclasts are equally present in osteoclasts and osteoblasts, and osteoporosis occurs when the amount of osteoclasts is greater than that of osteoblasts. The causes of osteoporosis are related to endocrine dysfunction, genetics, nutrition and other factors. In old age, with changes in hormones and metabolic levels, the body becomes deficient in active vitamin D, which in turn causes a decrease in the utilization of calcium and a decrease in bone mass. In general, uncontrollable risk factors include race, old age, menopause, maternal family history, etc., while controllable factors include weight, medications (e.g. corticosteroids), diseases affecting bone metabolism (e.g. rheumatoid, thyroid or parathyroid disease, diabetes, digestive disorders), smoking, excessive alcohol or coffee consumption, lack of physical activity, calcium deficiency in the diet, vitamin D deficiency, etc. Bone density test is the gold standard for diagnosis Currently, the gold standard for diagnosis of osteoporosis is the test of bone densitometry (especially dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), which compares the measured bone density value with the bone density of normal young people of the same sex, with a difference of 1 standard deviation equivalent to 12% of the bone density value, and a standard deviation between 1 and 2.5 indicates a decrease in bone mass; greater than 2.5 indicates osteoporosis. People over 65 years of age, adults with a history of fragility fractures or a family history of fragility fractures, middle-aged or older adults who are more than 3 centimeters shorter than when they were younger, adults with low sex hormone levels, smokers and alcoholics, and people who stopped menstruating before the age of 45 are all at high risk for developing osteoporosis and should have their bone density tested. Even teenagers should pay attention to bone density monitoring. 1,100 students were tested for bone density in Beijing in 2013 and more than 50% had insufficient bone mineral and 2.5% had very low bone mineral. Low back pain Spinal deformation Fracture The most common and typical symptoms Early osteoporosis alone is mostly asymptomatic, so some people call it a “silent disease”; however, as osteoporosis becomes more severe, a series of symptoms will appear, with pain, spinal deformation, and fragility fracture being the most common. 1. Low back pain. In China, low back pain caused by osteoporosis accounts for 67% of the prevalence, and some of them are also accompanied by numbness of the limbs, general weakness or radiating burning pain of the nerves. This kind of pain is light during the day and heavy during the night, and heavy during the activity, and it appears only during the activity at first, and can be relieved with a little rest. Sometimes it is accompanied by multiple bone and joint pains, soft tissue twitching pains or nerve radiating pains. The pain can be aggravated if a certain posture, force or weight is maintained for a long time. 2.Hunchback deformity of the spine. Weakened bone strength can lead to the weight-bearing capacity of the spine, and the gravity of its own weight can also deform the column-shaped vertebrae, resulting in hunchback or height shortening. 3, fragility fractures in women over 50 years old. When osteoporosis is present, the bones are “weak” and even a shock like coughing and sneezing can cause a fragility fracture. According to a survey, the lifetime risk of fragility fracture in women is about 40%, which is higher than the combined prevalence of breast cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer; the lifetime risk of fragility fracture in men is 13%, which is higher than the prevalence of prostate cancer. Among them, femoral neck fractures amount to 62% in women and 22.6% in men at the age of 80. It is generally accepted that fractures occur when the body loses 20% or more of its bone mass. Fractures can lead to increased disability and mortality. A 6-year follow-up of 2806 patients with hip fractures due to osteoporosis showed that 18% of the patients died within 6 months, 51% could not dress themselves, 85% could not walk independently, 74% had to use crutches, 92% could not go upstairs, and 94% could not walk 1.5 miles. Many elderly people, because of an accidental fall and a fracture, have changed the course of their lives, either dying quickly or becoming disabled, and their quality of life is significantly reduced, from this point of view, osteoporosis is more terrible than many cancers.