Osteoporosis Causes and Treatment
- DrMrugendra Thombre
- Jun 21, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 12, 2024
Overview
What is Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease in which calcium degeneration occurs in bones .That lack of calcium causes the brittleness of bones.
That's why Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle , those bones become so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses such as bending over or coughing or sneezing can cause micro fracture in bones. Osteoporosis-related fractures most commonly occur in the spine, hips or wrist and near knee joint.
Bone is a living tissue that is constantly being broken down and replaced or repaired. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone doesn't keep up with the loss of old bone.
Osteoporosis affects men and women of all races and rarely children. But white and Asian women, especially older women who are past menopause, are at highest risk than other women. Medications, healthy diet and weight-bearing exercise can help prevent bone loss
or strengthen already weak bones.
Symptoms
There typically are no symptoms in the early stages of bone loss. But once your bones have been weakened by osteoporosis, you might have signs and symptoms that include:
Dull Back pain, caused by a fractured or collapsed vertebra or compression fractures in spine.
Loss of the height over time.
A stooped posture.
A bone that breaks much more easily than expected
When to see a doctor
You might want to talk to your doctor about osteoporosis if you went through early menopause or took corticosteroids for several months at a time, or if either of your parents had hip fractures as it might be in hereditary too.
Causes
Our bones are in a constant state of renewal — new bones are made and old bones are broken down. When you're young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks down old bone and your bone mass increases. After the early 20s this process slows down, and most people reach their peak bone mass by the age of 30. As people age, bone mass is lost faster than it's created.
How likely you are to develop osteoporosis depends partly on how much bone mass you attained in your youth. Peak bone mass is partly inherited and varies also by ethnic group. The higher your peak bone mass, the more bone you have "in the bank" and the less likely you are to develop osteoporosis as you age.
Sometimes some other causes are also important such as
Intestinal defects
Mal absorption or less absorption of calcium from intestinal cells
Indigestion problems
Lack of vitamin D absorption from food
Lack of sunlight exposure resulting in less vitamin D production which is necessary for calcium deposition on the bones
Less calcium in diet
Less silicon in diet which is important mineral as far as bone marrow density is concerned.
Risk factors
A number of factors can increase the likelihood that you'll develop osteoporosis — including your age, race, lifestyle choices, and medical conditions and treatments.
Unchangeable risks
Some risk factors for osteoporosis are out of your control, including:
Your sex. Women are much more likely to develop osteoporosis than are men.
Age. The older you get, the greater your risk of osteoporosis.
Race. You're at greatest risk of osteoporosis if you're white or of Asian descent.
Family history. Having a parent or sibling with osteoporosis puts you at greater risk, especially if your mother or father fractured a hip.
Body frame size. Men and women who have small body frames tend to have a higher risk because they might have less bone mass to draw from as they age.
Hormone levels
Osteoporosis is more common in people who have too much or too little of certain hormones in their bodies. Examples include:
Sex hormones. Lowered sex hormone levels tend to weaken bone. The fall in oestrogen levels in women at menopause is one of the strongest risk factors for developing osteoporosis. Treatments for prostate cancer that reduce testosterone levels in men and treatments for breast cancer that reduce oestrogen levels in women are likely to accelerate bone loss.
Thyroid problems. Too much thyroid hormone can cause bone loss. This can occur if your thyroid is overactive or if you take too much thyroid hormone medication to treat an underactive thyroid.
Other glands. Osteoporosis has also been associated with overactive parathyroid and adrenal glands.
As mentioned above Dietary factors are also responsible
Osteoporosis is more likely to occur in people who have:
Low calcium intake. A lifelong lack of calcium plays a role in the development of osteoporosis. Low calcium intake contributes to diminished bone density, early bone loss and an increased risk of fractures.
Eating disorders. Severely restricting food intake and being underweight weakens bone in both men and women.
Gastrointestinal surgery. Surgery to reduce the size of your stomach or to remove part of the intestine limits the amount of surface area available to absorb nutrients, including calcium. These surgeries include those to help you lose weight and for other gastrointestinal disorders.
Steroids and other medications
Long-term use of oral or injected corticosteroid medications, such as prednisone and cortisone, interferes with the bone-rebuilding process. Osteoporosis has also been associated with medications used to combat or prevent:
Seizures
Gastric reflux
Cancer
Transplant rejection
Medical conditions
The risk of osteoporosis is higher in people who have certain medical problems, including:
Celiac disease
Inflammatory bowel disease
Kidney or liver disease
Cancer
Multiple myeloma
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lifestyle choices
Some bad habits can increase your risk of osteoporosis. Examples include:
Sedentary lifestyle. People who spend a lot of time sitting have a higher risk of osteoporosis than do those who are more active. Any weight-bearing exercise and activities that promote balance and good posture are beneficial for your bones, but walking, running, jumping, dancing and weightlifting seem particularly helpful.
Excessive alcohol consumption. Regular consumption of more than two alcoholic drinks a day increases the risk of osteoporosis.
Tobacco use. The exact role tobacco plays in osteoporosis isn't clear, but it has been shown that tobacco use contributes to weak bones.
Complications
Bone fractures, particularly in the spine or hip, are the most serious complications of osteoporosis. Hip fractures often are caused by a fall and can result in disability and even an increased risk of death within the first year after the injury.
In some cases, spinal fractures can occur even if you haven't fallen. The bones that make up your spine (vertebrae) can weaken to the point of collapsing, which can result in back pain, lost height and a hunched forward posture.
Prevention
A good nutrition and regular exercise are essential for keeping your bones healthy throughout your life.
Calcium
Men and women between the ages of 18 and 50 need 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day. This daily amount increases to 1,200 milligrams when women turn 50 and men turn 70.
Good sources of calcium include:
Low-fat dairy products
Dark green leafy vegetables
Canned salmon or sardines with bones
Soy products, such as tofu
Calcium-fortified cereals and orange juice
If you find it difficult to get enough calcium from your diet, consider taking calcium supplements. However, too much calcium has been linked to kidney stones. Although yet unclear, some experts suggest that too much calcium, especially in supplements, can increase the risk of heart disease.
The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that total calcium intake, from supplements and diet combined, should be no more than 2,000 milligrams daily for people older than 50.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D improves the body's ability to absorb calcium and improves bone health in other ways. People can get some of their vitamin D from sunlight, but this might not be a good source if you live in a high latitude, if you're housebound, or if you regularly use sunscreen or avoid the sun because of the risk of skin cancer.
Dietary sources of vitamin D include cod liver oil, trout and salmon. Many types of milk and cereal have been fortified with vitamin D.
Most people need at least 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day. That recommendation increases to 800 IU a day after age 70.
People without other sources of vitamin D and especially with limited sun exposure might need a supplement. Most multivitamin products contain between 600 and 800 IU of vitamin D. Up to 4,000 IU of vitamin D a day is safe for most people.
Exercise
Exercise can help you build strong bones and slow bone loss. Exercise will benefit your bones no matter when you start, but you'll gain the most benefits if you start exercising regularly when you're young and continue to exercise throughout your life.
Combine strength training exercises with weight-bearing and balance exercises. Strength training helps strengthen muscles and bones in your arms and upper spine. Weight-bearing exercises — such as walking, jogging, running, stair climbing, skipping rope, skiing and impact-producing sports — affect mainly the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine. Balance exercises such as tai chi can reduce your risk of falling especially as you get older.
Homeopathy Medicines :
Homeopathy medicines are given as per the symptoms of the patient and by considering the cause of the disease so many a times the medicine given by a homeopath doctor is person specific .
Why to consult Homeopath Doctor
We never give any calcium supplements medicines or vitamin medicines , we just recommend the proper diet which is rich in vitamins and calcium , so calcium and vitamins will be absorb naturally , and we give medicines which restores the intestinal ability to absorb the calcium and vitamins.
Why True Homeopath doctor never recommends calcium tablets or vitamin tablets
First of all the supplemental calcium or vitamin tablets we get do have enormous concentration of the calcium , even though that much calcium is needed by the body , the problem is that the tablets give it so rapidly and in concentrated manner so the intestinal calls which do absorb the calcium or vitamins do get burned out , the process called apoptosis (a programmed cell death) , it happens because of sudden increase in serum calcium levels in blood, as its a nutrient feedback mechanism of the body, this process starts suddenly and increases gradually , so in first few time your body absorbs the nutrients rapidly due to high concentration , but in log term it becomes dependent on that concentration , so when you once stop taking those supplemental tablets you loose same nutrients very rapidly even you are taking nutrient rich diet.
Side effects of calcium
Calcium is an essential component in blood coagulation process , so when you take lots of calcium than required amount then the blood clots start to form especially in those who have more platelets in the blood, that clots then migrate towards the brain and heart and kidneys
and many other organs and damage them , then you might get hear attack , kidney stones , kidney atrophy , coronary artery calcification brain damage etc.
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