The osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by a low bone mass accompanied by a deterioration in bone architecture, leading to increased bone fragility.
(The expert’s keys on osteoporosis, the disease that affects 22.6% of women)
Its prevalence is greater in womenespecially after menopause, due to the abrupt cessation of estrogens, according to Manuel Romero, head of the Rheumatology Service at Hospital Quirónsalud Córdoba.
osteoporotic fractures
About two hundred million people worldwide suffer from osteoporosis and is estimated to cause 1.6 million hip fractures, 1.7 million forearm fractures, and 1.4 million vertebral fractures.
In this sense, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 40% of women over the age of 50 may suffer one of these fractures in their lifetime.
These can be:
- vertebral fractures. They are the most frequent osteoporotic fractures, and also the most difficult to detect, since 2 out of 3 are asymptomatic. Its consequences are: back pain, height loss, decreased quality of life, increased risk of new fractures, and increased mortality.
- hip fractures. They increase with age, occurring about 15 years after wrist and vertebral fractures. They are the most devastating in terms of complications and mortality. The highest risk of death occurs in the 6 months after the fracture (20%), subsequently reducing over time. Of the remaining 80%, approximately 50% will suffer loss of functional capacity.
- Colles’ fractures. According to the series, they are the earliest to appear. They can negatively impact the quality of life.
Diagnosticar osteoporosis
To know when osteoporosis can be diagnosed, it is convenient to know the chronology of the loss of bone mass, according to the head of the Rheumatology Service of the Quirónsalud Córdoba Hospital.
When the peak is reached at the beginning of adulthood, bone mass begins to be slowly lost, plateauing, until reaching menopause. At this stage, coinciding with the drop in estrogen levels, this bone loss accelerates.
To diagnose osteoporosis, one looks for risk factor’s in the medical history and bone mass density is measured by bone densitometry of the lumbar spine and hip.
Among the risk factors we can find: age, tobacco use, thinness (BMI <19), family history of fractures, early menopause, diet low in calcium and vitamin D and taking some treatments such as corticosteroids or drugs used to breast cancer.
Prevention
To prevent bone loss or slow it down, Dr. Romero recommends maintaining a few healthy lifestyle habits which imply following a healthy diet, practicing regular exercise and not consuming toxic substances such as tobacco or doing so in small quantities such as alcohol.
In addition, they recommend taking 1,200 mg of calcium daily and 800 international units of vitamin D that can be found in foods such as cheese, yogurt, green vegetables, broccoli or quinoa.
Vitamin D is absorbed thanks to sunlight, but as the current pace of life means that we spend much of the day indoors and use high sun protection creams, levels are often below those recommended.
Finally, when these measures are not enough, it is necessary to establish a pharmacological treatment.
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