Osteoporosis Case Study
The Skeletal System: Osteoporosis
Case Study 1
Ann is an 82 year-old Caucasian woman. She enjoys spending her time knitting, reading books, watching old movies, and writing letters to her grandchildren. She recently fell while stepping out of the bathtub. Although she did not fall very far or land very hard, she broke her femur. The doctor in the emergency room placed her leg in a cast and tested her bone mass density, finding that it was low. He told Ann that she might have osteoporosis, a disorder that makes the individual more susceptible to bone fractures. Upon hearing this, Ann replies that she is not surprised because her mother and aunt easily fractured their bones as they aged. She was surprised, however, that the hospital had recorded her height as 5’2” because she had always been 5’4” her whole life.
1. Based on this case study, what are four risk factors that are associated with osteoporosis?
Based on this case study, the four risk factors are her gender, females are more likely to develop osteoporosis than men. The second risk factor is her age, she is 82 years old, as you get older the higher your chances are of getting this disease. The third risk factor is her race, caucasians are more likely to get this disease than asians or african americans. The last risk factor that she has is her family history, the fact that her mother and aunt both have osteoporosis makes her much more likely to get this disease.
2. Pretending that you are a doctor or nurse in the emergency room treating Ann, explain osteoporosis in terms that she would be able to easily understand. Include a brief description of bone breakdown and bone reformation, as well as how these rates are unequal in osteoporosis. (A few sentences will suffice.)
Osteoporosis is a bone disorder where your bones are breaking down faster than they are regenerating, this is making them very weak and brittle. It causes you to break or fracture a bone easily even with the
Case Study 1
Ann is an 82 year-old Caucasian woman. She enjoys spending her time knitting, reading books, watching old movies, and writing letters to her grandchildren. She recently fell while stepping out of the bathtub. Although she did not fall very far or land very hard, she broke her femur. The doctor in the emergency room placed her leg in a cast and tested her bone mass density, finding that it was low. He told Ann that she might have osteoporosis, a disorder that makes the individual more susceptible to bone fractures. Upon hearing this, Ann replies that she is not surprised because her mother and aunt easily fractured their bones as they aged. She was surprised, however, that the hospital had recorded her height as 5’2” because she had always been 5’4” her whole life.
1. Based on this case study, what are four risk factors that are associated with osteoporosis?
Based on this case study, the four risk factors are her gender, females are more likely to develop osteoporosis than men. The second risk factor is her age, she is 82 years old, as you get older the higher your chances are of getting this disease. The third risk factor is her race, caucasians are more likely to get this disease than asians or african americans. The last risk factor that she has is her family history, the fact that her mother and aunt both have osteoporosis makes her much more likely to get this disease.
2. Pretending that you are a doctor or nurse in the emergency room treating Ann, explain osteoporosis in terms that she would be able to easily understand. Include a brief description of bone breakdown and bone reformation, as well as how these rates are unequal in osteoporosis. (A few sentences will suffice.)
Osteoporosis is a bone disorder where your bones are breaking down faster than they are regenerating, this is making them very weak and brittle. It causes you to break or fracture a bone easily even with the