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Osteoporosis is a bone disorder which is more prevalent in the over 50s due to decreased bone mineral density, resulting in an increased risk of fractures and curvature of the spine. Bones in the hips, spine, pelvis, upper arms and ribs are most likely to be affected. The disease is thought to affect over 200 million people worldwide and latest figures show that in Australia half of all women over 60 years old will experience a fracture due to osteoporosis.

Risk factors

This bone disorder has many associated risk factors such as a decreased estrogen level in women and a decrease in testosterone in men. Race too has associated links with those of European and Asian descent being the most at risk; this could partly be explained by the link of osteoporosis with specific genes. Being small in stature and malnourished also presents a greater risk. Lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise, low dietary calcium intake, alcohol consumption and smoking increase the likelihood of developing osteoporosis. Other medications such as corticosteroid tablets, heparin, methotrexate and diuretics lead to decreased bone density through increased bone loss.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis involves taking patient's medical history including age, sex, prescription medications, family history and lifestyle factors into account. Bone mineral density at the hips and spine will then be measured using a test known as dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. This test gives a reading called the T score, which is used to deduce how low your bone density is. If your reading is less than 2.5 then you are thought to have osteoporosis.

Symptoms

Osteoporo sis has been called the silent disease' as one can suffer from it and not experience any early symptoms. In most cases the first symptom is a fracture. Fractures involving the spine will result in curvature of the spine leading to an appearance of a hunchback or Dowager's hump in your back. Other symptoms resulting from curvature of the spine are loss of height, and back pain.

Treatment

As with all diseases the best form of treatment is prevention in the first case. Prevention revolves around making sure you are getting adequate calcium and vitamin D in your diet for bone formation, taking daily exercise, and avoiding smoking and excess alcohol consumption. However, when osteoporosis has set in treatment aims to prevent a further loss in bone density and secondly to prevent falls and fractures. There are many drugs used such as bisphosphonates, calcitonin, raloxifene to name a few. As with all drugs many side effects do occur and this is the downfall.

Osteoporosis is a debilitating disease for many but with early diagnosis and treatment it is possible to prevent further bone loss, and fractures thus improving your quality of life. The future of osteoporosis is focused on creating better treatments such as spinal weighted kypho-orthosis which will further reduce the risk of fractures and pain associated with this bone disorder.

Learn more about this author, Marie Bywater.
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