Osteoporosis in Elderly Women
Osteoporosis is a problem in which the bones start to weaken. This problem often troubles elderly women. After the age of 50, one woman in every three has this problem. Due to the changing lifestyle and carelessness in the diet, this problem is seen even in younger women.
Causes of Osteoporosis
Women are at increased risk of osteoporosis, a silent bone-destroying disease. Due to lack of sun exposure, low intake of calcium-rich foods, and increasing pollution, many women are at high risk. Young girls, adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and menopausal have habitually low calcium intake, which is the main cause of osteoporosis.
Classification of Osteoporosis
They are divided into these two groups:
Primary or idiopathic: Postmenopausal, elderly, adolescents, and young adults
Secondary: Endocrine, metabolic, chronic nephropathy, genetic neoplastic, rheumatological, rheumatological
Digestive: Gastritis, chronic liver disease
Iatrogenic: Corticosteroids, heparin, antimetabolites and anticonvulsants.
Ruling out the cause can help in treating osteoporosis.
What happens due to osteoporosis?
With increasing life expectancy, the incidence of vitamin-D deficiency in women is also increasing. Osteoporosis in women has become a major health problem due to widespread problems of nutrient deficiency, poor awareness about osteoporosis, and difficulty in diagnosis of osteoporosis in women. In this disease, the bones become weak to such an extent that a slight blow, a fall, and even sneezing and coughing can lead to fracture. Although this condition does not arise suddenly. But with age, it evolves and grows rapidly.
30 percent of the 100 old people suffer from osteoporosis. We are now seeing young people in the age group of 35-40 years developing early osteoporosis which is alarming. They are also found to have low bone mineral density, due to which they are more prone to osteoporosis.
Risk of osteoporosis
Young people are more prone to modern lifestyle, consumption of alcohol and tobacco, wrong eating habits like smoking, high calorie and junk food consumption, food adulteration, and diabetes mellitus at an early age. Because of this, you are becoming more vulnerable to this disease.
As per the available data, about 80 percent of women worldwide suffer from osteoporosis, and women above 50 years of age along with menopausal women are at high risk of osteoporosis.
An adequate and healthy diet plays an important role in strengthening the bone and the human skeletal system. Osteoporosis can be avoided by following an active lifestyle.
Learn how osteoporosis decreases bone mass
Bone is subject to constant renewal throughout life. The bone cells are destroyed and renewed regularly. This phenomenon is called bone remodeling. It is a dynamic and static process. However, when the event of destruction dominates the event of renewal, osteoporosis can set in. This causes more bone to be destroyed than formed, which leads to osteoporosis. This results in brittle bones and the risk of fracture increases.
It is caused by a number of factors that act on the maintenance and quality of bone. The risk of suffering from this will depend on the maximum level of bone mass that we have attained; This is called peak bone mass and it usually ends by the age of 30. It also depends on the maintenance of our bone capital which can undoubtedly be influenced by aging and genetic predisposition in both men and women.
Other factors involved are a sedentary lifestyle and taking medications like corticosteroids, and undoubtedly the lack of estrogen production in the ovaries when women go through menopause. That's why gynecologists must take care of women's bone health. Because, once ovarian failure occurs, women remain in an unsafe position for their bone health.
Identifying vitamin D deficiency in elderly women
We identify women at risk of osteoporosis by conducting a detailed medical history and densitometry test. We usually start doing densitometry at the time of menopause. If the woman does not present any risk factors, nor is there any variation in her habits, then the most important thing is to control estrogen in the first two years of menopause.
Prevention of osteoporosis
On a general level, the basic recommendations are the mediterranean diet, with adequate intake of dairy products, regular exercise to maintain muscle mass, and adequate calcium levels in the bones, avoiding the habit of smoking, and reducing caffeine intake.
Sun exposure with protection is recommended to facilitate the transformation of vitamin D precursors (a factor that also interferes with bone metabolism) in the skin. We know that only 10% of the levels are available from food like bluefish, egg yolk, mushrooms and 90% from sun exposure.
Prevention is better than cure
There are many treatments for osteoporosis. But prevention is essential to avoid reaching an osteoporosis state. Treatment is usually of medium duration and women rarely adhere to treatment for a disease that is neither noticed nor felt and only manifests when fractures of the bones affect the quality of life.
We have given you all the information related to osteoporosis in elderly women If you want to get treated for osteoporosis, then you can opt for ASP cares, which ensures the best possible treatment for bones and joints with good expertise.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from pain, our expert providers at ASP Cares will take care of your health and help you recover.
Call us on (210)-417-4567 to book an appointment with our specialists.