MAY IS OSTEOPOROSIS AWARENESS MONTH

PRESS RELEASES 5/1/2022

Bone loss is a natural part of aging, but when it occurs too quickly, it is called osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a serious disease in which bones become fragile and brittle. It is characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue. Because people cannot feel their bones getting weaker, they may not know that they have osteoporosis until they break a bone (typically in the hip, spine or wrist) and that means that the disease is already well advanced. In severe cases, mild stresses like bending over, lifting a vacuum cleaner or coughing can cause a fracture.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, an estimated 10 million individuals in the United States have Osteoporosis and almost 34 million more have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis. Osteoporosis can strike anyone, but certain people are more likely to develop the disease than others. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, risk factors include:

Age: Your bones become weaker and less dense as you age, increasing your risk for osteoporosis.
Gender: Women have less bone density and lose bone mass more rapidly than men do.

Race: Caucasian and Asian women are more likely to develop the disease, but African-American and Hispanic women are also at a significant risk.

Bone structure and body weight: Women who are thin and small-boned are at greater risk.

Menopause/menstrual history: Normal or early menopause (occurring naturally or as a result of surgery), increase risk. Women who stop menstruating before menopause due to such conditions as an eating disorder, are also at risk.

Lifestyle: Cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake, low calcium intake and performing little or not weight-bearing exercises increase risk.

Medications and disease: Certain medications (cortisone-like drugs and anticonvulsants) and medical conditions like endocrine disorders and rheumatoid arthritis contribute to osteoporosis.
Family history: Susceptibility to bone fractures and reduced bone mass may be hereditary.

Identifying one or more risk factors can help predict bone loss, but the only sure way to determine bone density and fracture risk for osteoporosis is to have a Bone Mass Density (BMD) measurement. The most effective BMD screening test is dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA scan). This procedure is quick, simple and gives accurate results. It measures the density of bones in your spine, hip and wrist and is used to accurately follow changes in these bones over time.

If you are at risk for developing osteoporosis or think you might already have osteoporosis, please contact your doctor. Testing should be performed on:

Х Women who are post-menopausal and not taking estrogen
Х Post-menopausal women who are over 5Т7ТТor less than 125 pounds
Х A patient who has a history of hip fracture or smoking
Х A man with clinical conditions associated with bone loss
Х A patient who uses medications that are known to cause bone loss
Х A patient with Type 1 diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease or a family history of osteoporosis
Х A patient with high bone turnover, which shows up in the form on excessive collagen in urine samples
Х A patient that has a thyroid condition, such as hyperthyroidism
Х A patient that has experienced a fracture after only mild trauma
Х A patient that has had x-ray evidence of fracture or other signs of osteoporosis

For more information on Osteoporosis or to schedule a screening, please contact the Internal Medicine Department at Medical Center Clinic 850.474.8385.