Health News
Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
By Jerry “Pops” Barnes RN BSN
Osteoporosis
When you’re healthy you’re as wealthy as you can be, and you are wise when you practice a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of this column is to always fulfill one of the Prime mandates of the nursing profession; and that is to provide health education to as many people as possible so that they can have knowledge and control over their health.
Today, we will discuss osteoporosis. Let us first discuss some facts about bones. The human skeleton contains 206 bones. Bones can be identified as long bones, which are more long than they are wide (for example the thigh bone), short bones such as the wrist and flat bones such as in the skull. Now through a process called remodeling, bone is constantly being added to the body and, at the same time, broken down. Cells in the body called osteoblasts add bone and cells called osteoclasts break down bone. Both of these processes are going on at the same rate so that there is an equilibrium and bone added equals bone loss, In the normal process of remodeling, (bone breakdown and bone deposit), the process takes an average of 4 months; in a person with osteoporosis it can take as long as two years.
Osteoporosis is a condition where you have a loss of bone density. This loss of
bone density happens when bone resorption (the breakdown of bone), is happening
faster than bone deposit. The bone becomes porous and brittle. It is estimated
that because people are living longer, more and more people will be affected by
this disease. Osteoporosis is the cause of many fractures annually. Many women
have experienced breaking a rib while sneezing or the spontaneous breaking of a
hip. It is estimated that by the year 2050 there will be 750,000 hip fractures
annually. Researchers have found that there are certain factors, which when
combined, predisposes individuals to this disease. These factors are heredity,
hormones, exercise, and nutrition. Researchers theorize that peak bone mass
acquired during the adolescent years is determined by heredity. The Vitamin D
Receptor gene, (VDR gene), important in the utilization of vitamin D has been
studied in this regard.
Some of the risk factors for osteoporosis are: Gender- Women because of their
smaller body frames have less bone mass than men (Although a percentage of men,
do suffer from osteoporosis as well);and women, because they live longer than
men, will experience a higher incidence of this disease. Resorption increases
due to loss of estrogen at menopause. The parathyroid gland secretes a hormone,
parathormone, which triggers the osteoclasts to break down bone. It is thought
that sufficient levels of estrogen diminish this activity. Ethnicity- Caucasian
and Asian women have a higher incidence of osteoporosis than African American
women. The following has also been theorized to be contributory: Cigarette
smoking , a diet low in calcium, excessive use of alcohol, an inactive
lifestyle, and a family history of osteoporosis.
Preventive steps
1. - Have regular physicals with your health care provider, who will do a bone density screening and blood work to check on any endocrine related problems. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that women have a bone density test if they are older than age 50, experienced an early onset of menopause, have liver disease, insulin dependent diabetes, kidney disease, or a family history of osteoporosis.
2. - Ensure that you consume enough calcium in your diet or that your health care provider prescribes supplementation.
3. - Abstain from smoking.
4. - Judiciously consume alcoholic beverages
5. - Adopt a regular exercise program. Regular exercise has been proven to stimulate bone deposition in the remodeling process, and to increase muscle strength and durability.
Until next time, take good care of your body,
because it is the only one you have. Pops.