Osteoporosis among Sri Lankan women – By Dr harold Gunatillake
Website: www.Doctorharold.com
Women are far more likely than men to develop osteoporosis — a condition of weak and fragile bones that make you prone to fractures: Of the 10 million For Americans with osteoporosis, 80 percent are women. High salt intake is a risk factor for osteoporosis because excess dietary sodium promotes urinary calcium loss, leading to calcium loss from bone and therefore decreased bone density.
Joel Fuhrman
According to the research work done by Sisira Siribaddana and Sarath Lekamwasm in 2004, in Sri Lanka, the median age, which was 25 in the year 1991, is expected to rise to 45 by the year 2041, and half of the population will be over 45 years and vulnerable to osteoporosis. We describe 2 large epidemiological studies done in Sri Lanka.
The first one, Galle Prospective Osteoporosis Survey, in its initial phase, recruited 350 women randomly from the current voter’s registers. 42.4% of women in the entire sample and 61.5% of women over 50 years were found to have osteoporosis.
Another study by Aranjan Lionel Karunanayake 1, Mohitha Janani Pinidiyapathirage, and Ananda Rajitha Wickremasinghe revealed that the population aged 35-64 years residing in 22 Grama Niladhari divisions, the smallest administrative units in the country, of the Medical Officer of Health area Ragama, Sri Lanka, was identified using the electoral list and stratified into three age groups. A random sample was obtained from each stratum and selected individuals were invited to participate in the study ,
Their conclusions were female sex, age, BMI, smoking and level of education were significant predictors of osteoporosis. The prevalence of osteoporosis increased in both women and men after 50 years.
How would you define osteoporosis?
Osteo means bone and porosis means porous or full of holes. When you are young and active the bones are strong due to its structure, and mineral content including calcium. Bone contains 99 percent of the calcium in the body. The mechanical strength of bone is proportional to its mineral content.
The Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S. The National Academy of Sciences has Recommended 1,000–1,300 mg of calcium daily for adults and 700–1,300 mg for children.
In osteoporosis, you lose bone including the minerals faster than you make it. When you are young your spine is straight, and as you grow old the neck bones, and chest spine bones seem to lose their minerals and change the posture by bending the neck and chest spine referred to as kyphosis.
Fractures tend to heal slowly in people who have osteoporosis and may lead to deformities such as curvature of the spine. In long bones, such as the bones of the arms and legs, the fracture usually occurs at the ends of the bones rather than in the middle.
Osteoporosis in the bones is a slowly growing process like your high blood pressure, and you have no early symptoms, until one day you slip in the bathroom and fracture the neck of the femur bone in one hip. Prevention of Osteoporosis Prevention of osteoporosis is generally more successful than treatment because it is easier to prevent loss of bone density than to restore density once it has been lost.
Prevention measures are recommended for anyone who has bone loss or who has risk factors for bone loss, regardless of whether they have had an osteoporosisrelated fracture. Osteoporosis prevention involves Managing risk factors (for example, quitting smoking and avoiding excess alcohol) Consuming adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D, Engaging in weight-bearing exercise (such as walking, climbing stairs, or weight training), Taking certain drugs (for some people who already have mild bone loss [osteopenia])
What are the causes of osteoporosis?
Oestrogen the female hormone helps to build and protect bones in women. When the level goes down with age you lose bone. You also lose bone during and after menopause when your ovaries stop making estrogen. Your risk of getting osteoporosis goes up if you didn’t build enough bone as a child from an eating disorder, lack of vitamin D or calcium, lack of exercise, or another health problem. Sports activities for children is essential to prevent osteoporosis in later life. Other risk factors ,
As sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) go down in both men and women, with age, risk goes up. Some cancer treatments also lower these hormones. Too much thyroid hormone or an overactive parathyroid or adrenal gland can bump up your risk, as can other conditions like celiac, kidney, or liver disease, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Steroids, like prednisone, can
also increase your risk.
There is a link between thyroid disease and osteoporosis?
Thyroid hormones are essential for normal skeletal development and normal bone metabolism in adults and can have detrimental effects due to thyoid dysfunction.
Thyroid hormone affects the rate of bone replacement. Too much thyroid hormone (i.e. thyroxine) in your body speeds the rate at which bone is lost. If this happens too fast the osteoblasts may not be able to replace the bone loss quickly enough.
Osteoblasts are cells that build bone. In short thyroid hormone accelerates the turnover of bone, especially the osteoclastic activity.
Hypothyroidism or low thyroid gland production of thyroxine does not seem to lead to bone loss.
So it is important to check on your thyroid function if you get osteoporosis. Increased parathyroid gland or adrenal gland can also increase your risk factor for osteoporosis.
Calcium supplement intake
It’s important to protect your bone strength and guard against fractures as you age, but Taking a supplement isn’t the best way to do that, says Erin Michos, MD, MHS, associate director of preventive cardiology for the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease. In short calcium supplement intake may not be helping your bones at all. Even worse? The supplements may lead to major health problems. It is better to take your calcium through diet, much more effective. Women ages 19 to 50 should consume 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day, and the target for women over 50 is 1,200 milligrams per day. Good dietary sources of calcium include:
- Almonds. Oranges. Dried figs. Soybeans. Garbanzo, white and pinto beans
- Low-fat dairy such as milk and yogurt
- Leafy green vegetables such as kale and spinach
Exercise to Strengthen Bones Being active and exercising on a regular basis protects bone health. Weight-bearing exercises such as walking, jogging and weight training are especially helpful in
preventing bone loss.
Doctors prescribe alendronate sodium and cholecalciferol by the trade name Fosamax .
FOSAMAX PLUS is used for the treatment of osteoporosis in select patients where vitamin D supplementation is recommended. Bone is a living, growing tissue.
Throughout life, our bodies are breaking down old bones and rebuild new bones in a continuous cycle. Fosamax helps prevent the loss of bone but actually helps to rebuild bone and makes bone less likely to fracture.
Side effects of these drugs are aching muscles, joints, and bones. Should you take vitamin D to prevent osteoporosis?
Vitamin D is just as important for keeping bones strong and preventing the bone disease osteoporosis. Vitamin D helps your intestines absorb calcium from the food you eat.
The dose of vitamin D in the management of osteoporosis should be no less than 700-800 IU per day.
If your doctor suspects you have osteoporosis, he will order a bone density test. This measures how strong your bones are.
Hope this video article was helpful, especially to those women who have reached menopause.
Stay safe until we meet again. Goodbye for now.
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