Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become fragile and are, therefore, more likely to break (NOF, 2004). Thus, the common perception that bones are inert structures, like wooden beams, is incorrect. For, a bone is actually a living tissue, which is constantly being remodeled. After age 35, however, on the average a little more bone is lost each year than is gained during this remodeling. Between 40 and 50, men characteristically lose 0.5 to 0.75% of bone mass yearly, while women lose it at more than twice that rate. Bones that were once sturdy may become lighter and fragile, with their interiors resembling lacy honeycombs. The rate of natural loss increases substantially after age 50. If its severe enough, the thinned-out bones become porous, and osteoporosis develops, which literally means bone porosity (Walford, 2000, p. 131). Consequences and Implications: Osteoporosis is often called the "silent disease" because bone loss occurs without any symptoms. Therefore, people may not know they have osteoporosis until their bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump or fall causes a fracture or a vertebra to collapse. If a vertebra or vertebrae collapse, it then results in severe back pain, loss of height or even spinal deformities such as kyphosis or stooped posture. Typically, osteoporosis results in hip, spine, wrist, and rib fractures, although any bone can be affected (NOF, 2004). Although any fracture is painful and slow to heal, it is important to note that fractures caused by osteoporosis can be particularly debilitating since older people are more prone to the disease, which implies further slowness of recovery and other age-related problems. For instance, an average of 24% of hip fracture patients, aged 50 and over, die in the year following their fracture. In addition, an osteoporosis patient can fracture a bone very easily even through small incidents such as slipping on a rug, lifting a bag of groceries, or a friendly hug (Walford,...
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Osteoporosis Pathophysiology: Osteoporosis Presentation of the disease Osteoporosis is a disease in which the body fails to regenerate enough bone to replace the bone mass that is lost when the body reabsorbs the tissue as part of the natural cycle of bone regeneration. "Bone is living tissue, which is constantly being absorbed and replaced" (Osteoporosis, 2011, Mayo Clinic: Definition). "When you're young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks down old
cohort was divided into halves based on median intakes for protein and calcium. Those with high protein intakes would have tended to be high in both meat and dairy, and those with high calcium intakes would have been high specifically in dairy. Potassium absorption was separately analyzed in those above and below the median intakes for the 2 nutrients. Potassium absorption remained above 90% on both sides of the
Osteoporosis Approximately 8 million people in the United States are affected by osteoporosis (Ray, Chan, Thamer, et al., 1997). Of these, 80% are older women (Ray, Chan, Thamer, et al., 1997). In addition to this problem, another 17 million people in this country have low bone mass, which puts them at an increased risk for developing osteoporosis as they get older (Ray, Chan, Thamer, et al., 1997). Every year, 1.5 million
The symptoms become clear when an individual experiences dull pain in the neck and lower back. As the disease develops in an individual, the individual becomes more prone to experiencing sudden pains which cause intense pain in this disease. The pain may continue for more than a couple of months. The disease is also likely to spoil the structure of the body. It is responsible for causing spinal compression
Osteoporosis In a healthy adult the skeleton is maintained through a process of complementary bone resorption and deposition (Das & Crockett, 2013). The two cell types responsible for this process are the multinucleated osteoclasts derived from the blood and resident osteoblasts. In the course of normal living the skeleton will develop localized, stress-induced microfractures, which trigger resident osteocytes to signal for help from the osteoclasts. The osteoclasts arrive and begin to
More than half of all men who undergo a hip fracture go from the hospital to a nursing home, and 79% of those who endure for one year still live in nursing homes or transitional care facilities. Osteoporosis is a major threat to more than 2 million men in the United States. In spite of these facts, as per a 1996 Gallup Poll, many men still view osteoporosis as a
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