What is osteoporosis?

In the world of medical terms, where most are unknown words and more confusing than enlightening, osteoporosis is a relatively simple and explanatory one. Osteo (as most everyone today know) means "pertaining to bones" and "porosis" is from the word porous, and means "having cavities or being less dense." Which adds up to bones that are no longer the strong, rigid masses we depend upon for our body's structure, but rather porous, less-dense structures that are easily broken or crushed.

Long considered a disease of the elderly, the focus is changing today. That's for two reasons: 1) Our whole society is getting older, and many of us will be "elderly" for many, many years. Japan has a head start on that situation as it's predicted that more than 25 percent of the population will be age 65 or over by the year 2020. 2) Bone loss, or decreased bone density begins much earlier than previously thoughtas early as the late 30s or early 40s, particularly for women. And, believe it or not, even athletic youngsters as young as 15 can have signs of the disease.

If you're into group statistics, it's estimated that some 25 million American have fragile bones that are susceptible to fracture. That number includes roughly half of all women over 45. Men aren't immune to the disease either (more about the growing interest in men with osteoporosis in a later column), and it's estimated that 1 million have the same porous bones as the female population. Osteoporosis is estimated to cause 1.3 million bone fractures a year in people over age 45. What's even more ominous is that close to 20 percent (one in five) of older people who fracture a hip actually die within a year after that fracture. Of those who survive the hip fracture, only a few return to the full level of activity they enjoyed before the fracture.

Osteoporosis - The Risks

Physicians, realizing some degree of osteoporosis will eventually affect all of us, are now taking measures to help prevent or reverse this process through early detection and treatment. The statistics on osteoporosis show that it is a major health problem especially as we continue to live longer, will affect more Americans in the future, and may cause other health-related concerns.

• 30 million women in the United States have a low bone mass or osteoporosis.
• Nearly half of all women will experience an osteoporotic fracture at some point in their lifetime.
• A woman's risk of hip fracture is equal to her combined risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer.
• Half the women admitted to Brigham and Women's Hospital with a hip fracture have vitamin D deficiency.
• Osteoporosis is under-diagnosed and under-treated

Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

Fortunately there is much we can do to prevent this disease—particularly (and parents of young girls should take special note) during the growing-up years. The general preventive measures are listed below:

· Eat a balanced diet

· Consume enough calcium

· Exercise

· Don't smoke

· Limit alcohol consumption