Signs And Symptoms of Osteoporosis.Osteoporosis inevitably accompanies age and, in practice, all individuals over the age of 50 have some degree of osteoporosis. Even if it is a disease that is evident in old age, it has its roots in the age of development: a lack of “saturation” of the bone tissue in the first twenty years of life will condition the evolution of the disease in the years of old age. It can also be accelerated by insufficient calcium and mineral intake from the diet.
Osteoporosis is usually asymptomatic. It manifests itself with symptoms only when it is caused by crushing or microfractures of the bones, with the appearance of pain. Once again, early diagnosis is therefore important in order to avoid bone fractures. Prevention, however, must begin at the age of development and intensify as the age at risk approaches..
Women have osteoporosis more frequently for several reasons: their peak bone mass is usually lower than that of men and with menopause bone loss accelerates (postmenopausal osteoporosis).There are many other causes of osteoporosis: alcoholism, drugs (glucocorticoids, hormonal treatment used to treat breast and prostate cancer . inflammatory rheumatic , endocrine, liver diseases , kidney failure, among others.
10 Signs And Symptoms of Osteoporosis
Symptoms
Osteoporosis is called a silent epidemic because it does not show symptoms until bone loss is significant enough for fractures to develop. The most frequent fractures are vertebral, hip and wrist fractures (Colles fracture or distal radius). Hip fracture is of special importance since it is considered a serious event because it requires surgical intervention, hospital admission and implies a loss of quality of life for the patient, even for a short period of time.
The symptoms of osteoporosis are not always easy to recognize, indeed in the initial phase it is defined as an asymptomatic pathology. The specialists have in fact coined a very fitting expression in this regard, coming to define the disease as “the silent thief” due to its “stealing” calcium from the bones without manifesting itself in a striking way for years, which is why prevention is fundamental.
In particular, there are no initial symptoms for osteoporosis exclusive. The signal that can lead the doctor to suspect its presence is represented by bone pain. But compared to this – this disabling disorder is not infrequently a wake-up call for arthrosis , another common pathology in elderly people, albeit with a very different course from the first – pain, symptoms of osteoporosis in the hip and back ( in the lumbar area they are more reminiscent of a sense of heaviness) they do not appear in the morning after getting out of bed, but after having been standing for a long time and canceling themselves – quickly – once lying down.
Osteoporosis and prevention : if the first word – once pronounced – is scary, the second gives, on the contrary, a lot of confidence. In a nutshell, five behaviors to be adopted as a positive preventive strategy and enunciated by the researchers: from ensuring a good intake of Vitamin D, staying outdoors for at least an hour a day, to introducing more calcium with the diet; from practicing moderate physical activity (walking, dancing, light jogging, bicycle or stationary bike) to not smoking and not exceeding the daily consumption of alcoholic beverages.
