Osteoporosis Research Paper

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is commonly known disease for fragile bones that can break easily and tends to happen with the elderly. For example you could be doing something so easy as bending over to pick something up and cause breakage. Typically the wrist, hip, or spine are what happen to be the most commonly broken bones when it come to this disease. It also affects both genders, not just one or the other. Studies have shown the elderly White and Asian women seem to have the greatest risk for getting the disease.

Bone is constantly being broken down and replaced because it is a living tissue, so when the creation of the newer bone isn't keeping up Osteoporosis happens. Most people by their 20s have reached their highest bone mass, so

During menopause the fall in estrogen occurs, resulting in great bone loss. The average woman loses up to 10 percent of her total body bone mass the first five years after menopause.

Osteoporosis can lead to not so painless fractures in the spine. It can also lead to loss of height and changes in your posture. One example would be the dowager's hump, which happens when the spinal fractures are squeezed together due to the force of gravity, resulting in a unusual bending forward of the spine called kyphosis.

Studies have shown that in the early stages of bone loss you really can't find any symptoms. Once the bones start to become weaker is when you might notice symptoms such as back pain, which is caused by a crackage or fallen

Your bone density can be measured by a machine that uses low levels of X-rays. The low level X-rays should determine the quantity of mineral in your bones. It's a painless test where you lie on a padded table as a scanner passes over your body. In most cases, usually the hip, wrist or spine are checked. The bone density is a test that you might have to do. It tells whether or not you might be apt to break a bone in the next 10 years or so. If your test comes out with a high risk that you might break a bone in the next 10 years you might be put on medication. If your test comes out with not a high risk of you breaking a bone your treatment might not include medication, but instead might focus on lifestyle, safety and modifying risk factors for bone loss.

Both men and women can be at an increased risk fracture when they have this disease so a commonly known medication is bisphosphonates may help, but some side effects may include nausea, abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing, and the risk of an inflamed esophagus or esophageal ulcers. For women soon after they reach menopause estrogen may be available for them to take estrogen to maintain their bone density, but they have to be bone healthy patients because the estrogen therapy may increase their risks of blood clots, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, or possibly heart