Centegra Health System informs us that, often called a silent disease, osteoporosis may not be detected until a senior’s “bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump, or fall causes a hip to fracture or a vertebra to collapse.”
My own experience has taught me that after a fall, collapsed spinal vertebrae may initially be felt or seen in the form of severe back pain, loss of height, or spinal deformities such as kyphosis (severely stooped posture).
Did you know that if you’ve had one broken bone, research shows your odds for another have already increased as much as nine-fold? More stunning stats are the following: The risk of 50 percent of women developing osteoporosis proves to be greater than the odds for them developing heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined. For men, the odds are up to one in four getting the malady. The truth is that “a man over 50 is more likely to have a break than he is prostate cancer,” according to Reader’s Digest (May, 2019), Sari Harrar’s article “A Silent Epidemic of Broken Bones.” Harrar continues, “Scientists don’t know why, but men have a higher risk for death after a hip fracture caused by osteoporosis than women do.
Harrar relates that this tragic present statistical outcome could have been avoided with the more frequent use of Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry or DXA scans which has made the condition highly treatable in the past 25 years. DXA scans are used by the World Health Organization as the singular criteria for osteoporosis diagnosis. The scans are now covered by Medicare and most private health insurance. Nevertheless, after a decade of declines, the present increase in hip fractures alone seems to be a three-fold problem, according to the Reader’s Digest story:
1. Deep misunderstanding about what affects our bone health
2. Overblown fears directed at bone-building drugs
3. Changes in bone scan health insurance coverage in the past leading to the avoidance of using scan screenings.
The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends Bone Density Scans for women age 65 and older, for men age 70 and older, and, as early as age 50, for those with high risk bones (mentioned in my Parts 1 and 2 on this same topic). Adults, younger than 40 with risk factors, are advised to speak to their physicians about the possibility of getting tested, as well. After being scanned, it is vital that you follow your doctor’s treatment plan. This should include the attempt to control the advancement of your bone-thinning progression by
1. Advising the patient as to a repeated future scan date
2. Recommending the use of a rich calcium and vitamin D diet/supplements, and
3. Prescribing certain drugs known as biophosphonates (example: Fosamax) and ibandronate (example: Boniva) to reduce the risk of fracture by slowing the breakdown of bone cells.
***A discussion of the drug’s side-effects and the proper time of the day/week/month to take the medications should occur in the physician’s office.
4.Endorsing regular physical weight-bearing movement
WebMD also mentions these new cutting-edge research programs:
1. New drugs aimed at osteoporosis-related genes that could decrease the activity of harmful genes or lead to the output of helpful ones
2. A Mediterranean diet research program out of England that studied 1300 older adults for a year: Upon the conclusion of the study it was noted that only people eating fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, and fish saw an increase in hip-bone density
3. The progress of surgeons and scientists at the New York School of Medicine and the College of Dentistry who are developing dissolving 3D-printed ceramic bone implants coated with a drug they hope will speed natural bone growth after surgery implantation leading to the possible absorption of the ceramic implant.
