Osteoporosis
Symptoms and treatment of osteoporosis in men and women
Osteoporosis arises due to a decrease in bone mass in the skeleton, causing a deterioration of bone tissue resulting in weaker bones (the bones are less compact) and making them more prone to fracture.
Osteoporosis is the main cause of broken bones in women after menopause and some elders in general.
Osteoporosis symptoms
Osteoporosis itself does not cause pain or noticeable symptoms, but frequent bone fractures that can alert us about this disease. The most common fractures in the elderly are the wrist and hip in postmenopausal women are prevalent vertebral fractures that cause a major back pain and deformities, together with loss of height due to reduced bone mass in the spine.
Diagnosis of osteoporosis
The diagnosis is made by densitometry that measures bone mineral content in order to determine its density and calcium content. It is therefore necessary densimetry adults ages 45 to 50 years, especially in menopausal women due to hormonal changes that lose more bone.
To diagnose osteoporosis is measured bone density in spine and hip, but can also be measured in the forearm.
Osteoporosis Treatment
To treat osteoporosis can go to pharmacological measures such as antiresorptive drugs (bisphosphonates, raloxifene, calcitonin, parathyroid hormone, strontium salts) Nonpharmacologic measures consist of a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, physical exercise and smoking cessation if applicable. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Osteoporosis | 
Tags: osteoporosis in men, osteoporosis in women, Symptoms, treatment, treatment of osteoporosis | 
No Comments »
Osteoporosis Treatment
Once diagnosed, the main form of treatment is the use of medication to prevent or delay the continued loss of bone or more rarely, increase bone mass.
Medical treatment is most commonly prescribed hormone replacement therapy. Prescribed estrogen with or without progestins, at low doses with the idea of recovering the lost endogenous hormone levels with menopause or after surgery in which the ovaries have been removed. Other treatments include calcitonin, bisphosphonates, vitamin D and PTH.
The best treatment for osteoporosis is prevention. An adequate intake of calcium and physical activity during adolescence and youth, may increase the peak bone mass, resulting in reduced bone loss and lower fracture risk in later years. Adequate intake of calcium and vitamins during maturation is essential for bone health.
In cases of early menopause, women should take estrogen to prevent post-menopausal loss of bone is due to add a progestogen if uterus is intact.
Estrogen replacement therapy is effective in preventing post-menopausal loss of bone and is also effective in preventing osteoporotic fractures. Hormone replacement therapy requires close monitoring and careful gynecologic patient selection.
Post-menopausal women with low bone mass or osteoporosis and have established contraindication to hormone replacement therapy, bisphosphonates (alendronate or etidronate) and calcitonin are effective medications to prevent bone loss. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Osteoporosis | Tags: hormone replacement therapy, loss of bone, medical treatment, Osteoporosis, Osteoporosis Treatment, treatment, Vitamin D | No Comments »
Suffer a Bone Fracture Due to Osteoporosis
One in two women and one in four men over age 50 will suffer a bone fracture due to osteoporosis
A quarter of people who break a hip die within the first anniversary of the injury. A study of the Spanish Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology warns that one in two women and one in four men over age 50 will suffer a bone fracture due to osteoporosis. The broken bone is the result “more serious” of this disease as “one of every four people who fracture a hip die before the year,” said study coordinator, Dr. Manuel Mesa Ramos.
The researchers stressed the importance of preventing a disorder that affects a majority of females from menopause. Once menstruation is lost, it creates a deficit in the production of estrogen or female hormones that, among other functions, has a mission to fix calcium to the bones. This explains why the patient type of osteoporosis is a woman who is over 60 years and goes to the consultation because it hurts his back, in the area of the dorsal vertebrae, the height of the blades, detailed the department head of Orthopedic Surgery Chiron and Traumatology Hospital of Bilbao, Inaki MÃnguez. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bone Health, Osteoporosis | Tags: bone fracture, calcium-based treatments, medical X-rays, Menopause, Osteoporosis | 6 Comments »