A chronic disease where the patient bears the risk of fractures, disability, and death due to bone loss befits the description of Osteoporosis disorder.
To treat Osteoporosis, the focus remains on curtailing bone loss. Diet and exercise are some ways of reducing bone loss and strengthening bones.
What is the prognosis for patients with osteoporosis?
As far as the prognosis for Osteoporosis goes, early detection and treatment are key for a timely recovery.
In other words, the prognosis for Osteoporosis is good if you treat the condition early on. In cases of Osteoporosis being left untreated, the patient suffers from pain and the risk of fractures.
As a result of Osteoporosis, your risk of pneumonia, respiratory illnesses, chronic pain, and kyphosis also rises.
In addition, Osteoporosis patients suffer from limited mobility, due to which they cannot function independently.
To reduce your risk of Osteoporosis, you should exercise and eat foods that are rich in calcium. More so, you can use bisphosphonates.
Sadly, bisphosphonates are costly and their use gives rise to side effects. Furthermore, as of now, there is no evidence to suggest that they lower your risk of fractures.
Where postmenopausal women are concerned, their risk of hip fractures increases with Osteoporosis. In the process, they take longer to recover and require long-term care.
What happens to your bones when you have osteoporosis?
The meaning of the term ‘Osteoporosis’ refers to ‘porous bone’. Healthy bones, when seen with a microscope, resemble a honeycomb.
As a consequence of Osteoporosis, the holes in the honeycomb are bigger as compared to healthy bones.
When the body loses a lot of bone or does not produce enough bone or both, you suffer from Osteoporosis. In other words, with Osteoporosis, your bone mass and strength dwindles.
So, Osteoporosis, a bone disease, is characterized by weak and brittle bones. In addition to rating low in density and mass, Osteoporotic bones have abnormal tissue structure.
Because of low bone density, bones become weak and easily breakable.
The bones of some Osteoporosis patients are so brittle that they get fractures if they fall. They suffer from fractures in the spine, wrist, and hip because of Osteoporosis.
Unfortunately, Osteoporosis develops sans any symptoms and is not detected until the bones have weakened to a significant degree.
Why is osteoporosis a serious public health problem?
A skeletal disorder, Osteoporosis patients have low bone density; also, their bone tissue starts deteriorating. In the process, they have fragile bones that raise their risk of fractures.
Now, Osteoporosis increases your chances of fractures, because of which the disorder poses several health challenges.
Among the most common sites of Osteoporosis-linked fractures are the spine, wrist, and hip; they can affect health adversely.
Although all fractures cause some level of morbidity, hip fractures can have the worst consequences.
Also, as a result of vertebral and hip fractures, you cannot live an independent life. In some cases of hip fractures, patients require hospitalization while others die.
Impaired quality of life, mortality, and morbidity are some reasons why Osteoporosis is a serious public health issue.
With age, your risk of fractures increases too. Menopausal women comprise a large part of the overall fracture cases due to changes in bone metabolism.
Also, women are at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis than men.
What are the factors of osteoporosis?
Among factors that increase your risk of developing Osteoporosis are alcohol and caffeine intake.
More so, women are more susceptible to suffering from Osteoporosis than men. Nutritional deficiencies and tobacco smoking are other factors that lead to Osteoporosis.
Also, Osteoporosis occurs in Celiac Sprue patients because of malabsorption. Malabsorption is a condition in which the nutrients fail to get absorbed by the gastrointestinal system.
Other than that, chronic diseases like liver infection, Hepatitis-B, and rheumatoid arthritis can lead to Osteoporosis.
Hyperthyroidism, lack of calcium, vitamin-D deficiency, Hyperparathyroidism, and certain medicines – all are among other causes of Osteoporosis.
In women, low estrogen levels and Amenorrhea are some additional factors that heighten their Osteoporosis risk.