Osteoporosis literally means “porous bones”. In young and healthy adults, the bones are thick, stout and strong due to good network of bone cells intricately and densely linked to each other like a mesh. However, in osteoporosis, this dense meshwork becomes loose and porous, thus weakening the bones. Strength of bones as well as their weight bearing and transmission capacities are reduced and they are prone to develop injuries and fractures with very minor trauma (sometimes the bones break even without trauma too).
Osteoporosis is mostly managed with medical treatment. But the best cure is prevention of osteoporosis and it starts right in a person’s early adult life. The best osteoporosis doctor and best osteoporosis specialist would recommend to build a good amount of bone mass in your earlier years from 15-30 years of age. This ensures that you have an adequate amount of bone stock with you. As years pass, this bone stock tends to come down. Therefore, someone with a good bone stock in young life will have more years to survive without osteoporosis and also has a chance to replenish the lost bone cells while growing in years.
Many medications are available that stem the loss of bone cells with ageing. The medications provide strength to the bones and treats fragile bones by creating a positive balance of healthy bone cells.
Change in lifestyle is also recommended by doctors when it comes to osteoporosis treatment. People should exercise regularly and take a balanced diet in order to treat osteoporosis. Smoking and alcohol weakens bone and diminishes the levels of estrogen. Calcium supplements and foods that are high in calcium and Vitamin D are to be consumed.
Osteoporosis is mostly a silent disease till it reaches gigantic proportions. Most of the patients in their middle and old age would start experiencing vague body aches and early fatigue. These symptoms are usually attributed to advancing age, but if such symptoms persist and trouble daily life activities, one should consider getting evaluation for osteoporosis. This is all the more relevant for women around and after menopause, women who have undergone uterus removal surgery, asthamatic, allergy and rheumatoid arthritis patients who have been given long term steroids, as these are high risk for developing osteoporosis.
The problem with osteoporosis is not of its own, but the havoc it can cause in a person’s life if it leads to one or more major fractures. Osteoporotic fractures not only create trouble by causing pain and limitation in mobility, but they also pose a big challenge to treat because the conventional methods of fixing the bone fractures with metal nail, screws and rods may not work well. This happens because the bones in which these metal implants are introduced are weak due to osteoporosis and don’t allow a good hold of these implants for a secure fixation. Most common areas in the body that are prone to develop osteoporotic fractures are wrist, hip and spine.
In the normal course of things, our bones maintain a delicate balance of new bone cells that replace the aged and dying bone cells (it’s a normal occurrence to lose some of our bone cells on daily basis as a part of life). When we are young, the new bone cells that replace the dying cells are well balanced and there is no negative balance of bone mass. However, as we advance in age and go beyond 30 years, this balance starts getting disturbed. The number of new bone cells replacing the older ones become less, thus creating a negative balance of healthy bone cells. This is a slow process and occurs over a period of several years and decades. One hardly feels and realizes this negative balance until it reaches a critical mass