Osteoporosis Management: Tips on Choosing the Correct Treatment
Osteoporosis is a common condition that makes bones abnormally weak and thin and easily fractured. Women who have undergone menopause are at higher risk due to reduced estrogen, which helps maintain bone mass. Since there’s no one-size-fits-all remedy to the problem, knowing your options starts with knowing what is available.
Our bones undergo constant renovation throughout our lives. Cells called osteoclasts are broken down and remove old bone tissue during a process known as bone turnover, after which cells called osteoblasts lay down new bone structure. Once a woman undergoes menopause, the rate of bone removal becomes so high that the bone formation process can’t keep pace. The result could be bone loss and ultimately weakened brittle bones as a result of osteoporosis.
Bones are living tissues that look like a honeycomb. When someone has osteoporosis, the pores become larger and weaker, leading to fragility and the related complications. According to statistics, osteoporosis causes at least 8.9 million fractures every year. Thankfully, there are preventive treatments available to help in maintaining or increasing your bone density. Don’t worry too much if you’ve already been diagnosed. There are several therapies available to slow down the loss of bone tissue and increase your bone density.
Risk Factors
The list of osteoporosis risk factors includes modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Among the modifiable risk factors are lifestyle, medication use, sex hormones, while the non-modifiable risk factors are family history, sex, and age. Even though most people with osteoporosis will have had these risk factors, you could also get the diseases in the absence of the risk factors.
Signs and Symptoms
Doctors refer to osteoporosis as the silent disease since there are no visible signs or symptoms during the disease’s earlier stages. In most cases, you will not realize there’s deterioration going on inside your body until you encounter a sudden bone breakage or fracture. However, once your bones are affected by the disease, some common symptoms include back pain, bone breakage, loss of height, and posture change.
Osteoporosis Diagnosis
If your doctor suspects that you have osteoporosis, they’ll diagnose the disease by measuring your bone mineral density, referring to your bone mass. The bone mineral density shows osteoporosis and the rate of treatment response besides predicting future fractures. It is good to check the bone mass often to be sure that health is maintained. Experts recommend osteoporosis screening for women over 65 years and younger women who have undergone menopause and have risk factors like a past fracture, certain medical conditions or medications, or cigarette or alcohol use.
Osteoporosis Treatment
The treatment of osteoporosis involves using various pharmacological – treatments with drugs – or non-pharmacological – treatment with other methods that do not include drugs. The choice of treatment will depend on the nature and extent of the disease, sex, age, previous injury history, and risk of breaking a bone. The primary objective is to reduce fracture risk, reduce pain, prevent disability and bone loss.
Pharmacological osteoporosis treatment is recommended for people with the highest risk of fractures. Your healthcare provider could recommend medication or hormonal therapy, depending on your situation. Other people could benefit from medication to prevent fractures. Some of the factors that could help you and your doctor to choose the correct treatment for osteoporosis include:
Your sex
There are different kinds of osteoporosis medications recommended for both men and women and others, specifically women.
Age
Some medications are best suited for menopausal women, while others are specifically for older women. Healthy non-menopausal women shouldn’t take osteoporosis medication. However, you can still benefit from treatment if you take medication or have disorders known to cause bone loss, and fractures may benefit from osteoporosis treatment.
The amount of Bone Lost
Since osteoporosis medication works differently, if you’ve had a more severe bone loss or multiple broken bones, you could be recommended a different medicine than a person with less bone loss or no fractures.
Overall Health
Your doctor will consider other health problems you have when recommending medicine. For example, if you have had breast cancer or blood clots, you should not take estrogen. Or, if your bones have been exposed to radiation treatment, you should not take some medications.
Personal Preferences
Finally, you can choose between a pill, liquid, or medicine given as an injection. You can also decide whether it works better for you to take your medicine every day, once a week, once a month, twice a year, or once a year, and whether you have negative feelings about a particular drug.
Non-Pharmacological Treatment
The non-pharmacological treatment approach involves treatment that does not need medications. Non-pharmacological strategies include the following are mainly about prevention and may include aspects like eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and avoiding smoking. These recommendations apply to men and women and include:
Exercise
Regular exercise is recommended for osteoporosis as it helps prevent fractures, improve bone health, and increase muscle strength, balance, and coordination. However, don’t do exercise that puts excessive strain on the bones. This approach should be closely monitored to avoid damage. Most experts recommend exercising for at least 30 minutes three times per week. Many different exercises, including resistance training such as using free weights or resistance bands, jogging, jumping, and walking, are effective.
Nutrition
It is essential to have foods rich in calcium and vitamin D to prevent osteoporosis. Calcium strengthens the bones, and vitamin D increases the uptake of calcium. Foods rich in calcium and vitamin D include dairy products and certain vegetables such as kale and broccoli. Calcium and vitamin supplements can also be taken. Minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients are also essential for healthy bones. Excessive sodium, caffeine, and protein intake increases the loss of calcium in the urine and hence should be minimized.
Avoid Alcohol
Drinking a lot of alcohol (more than two drinks a day) can increase your fracture risk.
Quit Smoking
Avoiding or quitting smoking is strongly recommended for bone health because smoking cigarettes is known to speed bone loss. One study suggested that women who smoke one pack per day throughout adulthood have a 5 to 10 percent reduction in bone density by menopause, resulting in increased fracture risk.
Avoiding falls
Falling significantly increases the risk of osteoporotic fractures in older adults. Taking measures to prevent falls can decrease the risk of fractures.