Conditions associated with Osteoporosis |
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Conditions associated with Osteoporosis |
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Role of Oestrogen in Osteoporosis |
The Role of Hormone Therapy in the Prevention and Treatment of OsteoporosisWhile one in four women over the age of 50 has osteoporosis, only one in eight men have the disease. This striking difference is largely due to the important role which the sex hormones (primarily estrogen) play in keeping women’s bones healthy. |
Bone is a living tissue that is constantly renewed through a process in which old bone is removed and replaced by new bone. In Bone there are two important types of cells – Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts. Osteoclasts are bone eroding cells and Osteoblasts are bone forming cells. The bone eroding cells invade the bone and erode it creating cavities in the bone and the bone forming cells fill the cavities with new bone. This is a natural process — nature’s way of restoring bones and keeping them strong. In younger persons with good bone health, both the cells that erode bone and those that build bone work together. But as we age the bone builders are unable to keep pace with the bone excavators, and this results in loss of bone. |
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Osteoporosis ~ Diagnosis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
To diagnose Osteoporosis we have to find out the calcium content of the bones. To put it more scientifically, the Bone Mineral Density ( BMD) has to be evaluated. The technology that is used to do this is known as Bone Densitometry. Before the advent of BMD tests, osteoporosis was diagnosed by routine X-rays or by bone biopsy. By these methods osteoporosis could be rarely diagnosed before at least 25 % of the bone mass was lost, and by this time the disease is well advanced. Today BMD tests help in diagnosing the disease and also help in warning us from the likely hood of developing osteoporosis in the near future. |
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Indications for BMD tests 1. At Menopause, to decide regarding the need for Hormone therapy. 2. Those on glucocorticoids, to see if they are losing bone mass or not. 3. Recent fractures, where osteoporosis is suspected. 4. Those with osteoporosis and under treatment, to monitor the effectiveness of treatment. 5. Those with Primary Hyperparathyroidism. 6. A man with Hypogonadism. 7. Those on chemotherapy and may be losing bone mass. |
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The most common bone density test in use today is called dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). It is a non invasive procedure and the amount of radiation exposure is very little.The results are expressed in units referred to as standard deviations (SD). These SD units tell how far you differ (or deviate) from what is considered normal. If you are 2.5 SD units below normal (-2.5), you will be told that you have osteoporosis. |
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Heel Ultrasound: A new Technology for testing Bone Density The test usually involves immersing your foot in a bath of warm water, allowing high frequency sound waves to pass through your heel. The test measures the density and quality of the bone in your heel. It has not yet become a standard testing procedure.
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Osteoporosis – Risk Factors |
The following conditions predispose to loss of bone and increased susceptibility to osteoporosis and consequent fractures.![]()
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Conditions associated with Osteoporosis |
Osteoporosis | |
Bone is living tissue, not a lifeless structure, that only supports your muscles and flesh. In fact, bone, like other body tissue, changes throughout a person’s life.Bone tissue is constantly renewed through a process called remodelling in which old bone is removed and replaced by new bone. This remodelling is a natural, ongoing process that takes place in a healthy body. It is Nature’s way of seeing that old bone is discarded and replaced with new bone. Loss in bone occurs because, as we age, new bone is not laid down at the same rate as older bone is lost; the result may be a thinning of the bones, referred to as Osteoporosis.Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue.WHO defines osteoporosis as a marked reduction in bone density, to differentiate it from osteopenia which refers to mild reduction in bone density. In osteoporosis, the bone density is more than 2.5 standard deviations below the young normal mean (T scale <-2.5).Osteoporosis is often known as the silent thief because bone loss occurs without symptoms.True osteoporosis causes bone pain and or spontaneous fractures of the spine, hip and wrist. Osteoporosis is usually asymptomatic until fracture develops. Older persons with a fracture, especially spontaneous fracture of the spine, wrist or femur should be investigated for osteoporosis. |
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Prevalence One in four women over the age of 50 has osteoporosis. One in eight men over 50 also has the disease. However, the disease can strike at any age. More women die each year as a result of osteoporotic fractures than from breast and ovarian cancer combined. A fifty-year-old woman has at least a 40 per cent risk of an osteoporotic fracture during the remainder of her life. Up to 20 per cent of individuals, who fracture a hip, die as a result of complications. Fifty per cent of those who survive remain permanently disabled. |
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Osteoporosis related topics |