Osteoporosis
What is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is treatable
Cells perform hard graft
Signs and symptoms
- Loss of height with advancing age
- Broken bones without any recognizable cause
- Broken ribs simply from coughing
- Or even minor tumbles resulting in hip or wrist fractures
Risk factors and causes
Primary osteoporosis
Primary osteoporosis accounts for about 95% of disorders that involve the loss of bone mass. Type I osteoporosis primarily affects women after menopause. The first bone fracture occurs about eight to ten years after the last menstrual period. The vertebral bodies in the lumbar spine are particularly susceptible. In type II osteoporosis, the first bone fracture doesn't occur until after the age of 70. Women account for most of the patients (two thirds). Besides the spine, the long bones in the thigh and arm are also affected.
The risk factors for the onset of primary osteoporosis are:
- familial predisposition
- hormone status (later onset of the first menstrual period and earlier menopause)
- certain lifestyle habits like:
- little exercise
- bed-ridden for a long period
- a low calcium or phosphate-rich diet that includes fast foods, cola, processed lunch meat
- "consumer poisons" such as alcohol, coffee, and cigarettes while being underweight
Secondary osteoporosis
Secondary osteoporosis develops as the result of certain disorders or as undesirable side effects of many drugs. Risk factors for the onset of secondary osteoporosis are:
- anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of asthma or rheumatism (cortisone),
- high dose thyroid hormones,
- coumarin derivatives (Marcumar),
- chronic disorders of dietary uptake due to:
- diseases of the pancreas, intestines, liver, and kidneys
- hormone imbalances such as an overactive thyroid or diabetes and tumors