Osteoporosis: Chronic Disease

A disease of long duration is a chronic disease. Osteoporosis is considered chronic and this paper will discuss what it means, what the risk factors and who is affected, this paper will address the symptoms to look out for and when to go to the doctor. Nutrition and what proper exercise can do to help prevent or slow down the progression caused by osteoporosis, and then the paper will list prevention and treatment options. May is osteoporosis month and this encourages free screenings for those who may have chances for osteoporosis!
A disease that affects the bones and causes the bones to become porous and brittle is called osteoporosis. Osteoporosis threatens any bone in the body. Hips and spines can be the ones that are the ones that can
leave a person bedridden and handicapped. Fractures in the hips will most likely heal at a much slower rate and the vertebral can collapse, causing the person to have pain while walking. The risk factors are bones break more easier and take longer to heal, problems with bones as a child, such as osteogenesis imperfect (OI), a genetic bone disorder.
That means the person is born without protein or the ability to make any protein. OI then becomes the brittle bone disease that is seen in many children who have broken their bones multiple times without any real explanation. Another thing to look out for is the possibility of having a pathologic fracture (PF). That occurs when the bone is too thin. Other risk factors are smoking, excessive drinking, someone who is taking steroids, small frame, physical inactivity, and a poor diet with low calcium intake or lack of, elderly who live in institutions with little or no movement and not adequate source of calcium, and even post menopause. When it comes to ethnicity, Asians and Caucasians are more at risk and woman more than men are also at risk. When a woman is going through menopause, her estrogen levels are low. Immunosuppressive medication can trigger osteoporosis, which is a drug given to a transplant patient. This is to decrease the chance of the new transplant of being rejected by the body. The drug can be given to treat skin diseases, such as psoriasis. Other factors, thyroid medications that are taken in an excess of at least months can make someone susceptible to the body losing bone mass or density. If someone suffers from a fracture, that may require a hospital stay and for the doctors to run further
test, to see how far the disease has progress and what treatment to use. The symptoms can range from mild to severe, depending on the stage of the osteoporosis. Back pain; lose of height over a period of time, fractures in the wrist, hip and spine areas. Although, as mentioned before, osteoporosis can affect any bone. Nausea, vomiting, urinary tract infections (UTI) can be seen in children, kidney failure, heart disease, and nerve damage are other symptoms seen. There are two stages of osteoporosis, Type I and Type II. Type I is only in post-menopausal women, only because of a deficiency of estrogen. Type II show up both in men and women, but more prominent in woman, which is due to aging and a defiency of calcium throughout the years. Osteoporosis is thought to be caused by many factors. Aging is a big factor our bones and how fast they heal after an injury can determine the strength of the bones. The less calcium and minerals the bones have the greater chance for weakening bones that support our internal structure. Bones are continually changing and our old bones are replaced by new bones, that process is called “bone turnover”. That process can take anywhere from two to three months. Osteoblasts are the cells that make the new bone and Osteoclast are the cells that break the bone down. A healthy diet and adequate exercise can prove to be very beneficial to those affected or have a chance of being affected with osteoporosis. Vegetables such as pumpkin, carrots, sweet potato and squash are just a few. Oatmeal, honey, peanuts, walnuts, and almonds, beans, raisins, peanut butter, salmon and other fishes, and according to foodandlife.com (2008), the article states that the skin and fat should be left on the fish. The reason is that the Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA fat) raises the high-density lipoprotein (HDLs) levels. EPA is considered part of the Omega 3 Fish Oils that should be taken as a form or treatment. Furthermore, other vitamins to take are Calcium and Vitamin D. Vitamin D taken with calcium supplements which is an inexpensive treatment that helps reduce the risk of fractures by strengthen the body mass. The key is to remember that it is not the amount of calcium that is taken, but how much the bones absorb. There are foods to avoid, such as: some milk products like 1% and 2%, red meat, which can cause some calcium lose, foods with high butter fat and animal fats, so do not choose meat that have less than 96% fat, salt and sugar also cause the bone to lose bone mass, and alcohol can keep the bones from absorbing the calcium that is so needs. Exercise keeps the body moving and keeps the body strong. Weight exercise are beneficial by the mean of when the body feels the stress of the weight, the bones then start to repair by making new and stronger bones. Treating the stages of osteoporosis can be done by hormone treatments (HT) such as patches, creams, and even a vaginal ring.
All three of these treatments are estrogen, which can be bought over-the-counter (OTC). The vaginal ring, well that must be discussed with a primary physician or a specialist. Prescription drugs that are out there to help slow the bone loss and at the same time increase the bone density over time. Bisphonates is a prescribed drug that is like estrogen; it inhibits the bone loss and preserves bone mass. It also increases the density to reduce the fractures that be found in hips and spines. That drug is very beneficial to men and children or those who have been steroid-induced osteoporosis. Boniva® which can be both oral and intravenous (IV) is advertised on television and even has a celebrity endorser, Sally Fields. However, as with any drug out there, a person must ask his or her doctor what is going to work best for them. That person needs to understand what the side effects are and what the long term affects are, as well. A person, who may not know if they are at risk for osteoporosis, should seek a medical profession and ask what the factors are and see what comes from that visit. There are also test to be done to see what you bone mineral density (BMD) is. This test will look at which category you may fall in. There are three, normal density, low density and osteoporosis. From there, the doctor will take you on a journey of what can be done of
anything. Normal density usually does not require any medical assistance. Again, the person must seek all answers to their questions and research everything that they possibly can. In conclusion, this paper has addressed many aspects of what osteoporosis. By what types there are and what symptoms to look for. Discussed who is affected. It discussed how proper nutrition and exercise can be beneficial before, during and after osteoporosis, and also listed some ideas of what treatments that is out there. Osteoporosis does not have to be painful. There are so many new drugs and treatments that are out there so ease the discomforts.