OSTEOPOROSIS. WHEN BONES BECOME FRAGILE.

Osteoporosis is a condition characterised by a loss of bone density, thereby causing bones to become fragile and fractured spontaneously or due to minimum traumas. 

SYMPTOMS

Unfortunately, no symptoms are displayed up until a bone fracture has taken place. A height reduction over the course of a year along with an increment in the curvature of the back can provide us with a clue that osteoporosis is present.

The symptoms are:

• Vertebral compression

• Pain

• Micro fractures

• Important fractures in the vertebrae, wrists, thighs and hips

AGE OF ONSET

It can emerge in children however, it is most commonly found in men and women adults over the age of fifty.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

• Do physical exercise.                                                             
• It has been shown that physical exercise, especially walking, is an important bone generator, therefore making it a key protector against osteoporosis.
• No smoking or drinking alcohol.
• Maintain a healthy diet that is also rich in calcium.

DIAGNOSIS

There is not a blood test that diagnoses osteoporosis and an X Ray will only do so in cases where the condition is in an advanced stage.

The diagnosis can only be made with a machine that measures bone density called densitometer.

This diagnosis is essential for post-menopausal women, people over the age of fifty and people with a prior family history of osteoporosis.

TREATMENT

The treatments depend entirely on the stage in which osteoporosis has been diagnosed.

These would be:

• Maintaining a healthy diet.

• Stop smoking and drinking alcohol.

• Walking everyday for an hour.

• Take Calcium and Vitamin D supplements.

• Use of hormonal treatments, especially for post-menopausal women.