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What is Osteoporosis? |
Osteoporosis is a disease of bone in which bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced.
Osteoporotic bones are more susceptible to fracture. While treatments are becoming available, prevention is still the most important way to avoid osteoporosis and reduce fracture. Due to its hormonal component, more women, particularly after menopause, suffer from osteoporosis than men.
Osteoporosis can be thought of as the similar to "sarcopenia", which is the age-related loss of skeletal muscle. The combination of sarcopenia and osteporosis results in the significant frailty often seen in the elderly population.
Osteoporotic fractures are those that occur under slight amount of stresses that would not normally lead to fractures in people who aren’t affected. Typical fractures occur in the vertebral column, hip and wrist. Collapse of a vertebra ("compression fracture") can cause one or a combination of the following: acute onset of back pain; a hunched forward or bent stature; loss of height; limited mobility and possibly disability.
Vertebral fractures can lead to severe chronic pain of neurogenic origin, which can be hard to control, as well as deformity. Though rare, multiple vertebral fractures can lead to such severe hunch back that the resulting pressure on internal organs can impair one's ability to breathe.
Fractures of the long bones (like the upper arm or thigh) acutely impair mobility and may require surgery. Hip fracture, in particular, usually requires prompt surgery, as there are serious risks associated with a hip fracture, such as deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism.
Patients with osteoporosis are at a high risk for additional fractures (the best predictor of fracture is a previous fracture). Treatment for the underlying osteoporosis can reduce the risk of a subsequent fracture considerably.
Although osteoporosis patients have an increased mortality rate due to the complications of fracture, most patients die with the disease rather than of it.
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