Osteoporosis

Risk Factors

Risk factors include being female, Asian or Caucasian, smoking, a diet low in calcium, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, estrogen deficiencies in the form of early menopause, amenorrhea for one year, low body mass index, having a small frame, advanced age, vitamin D deficiency, low lifetime calcium intake, anorexia nervosa, use of certain medications, a personal history of fractures after age 50, and a maternal family history of hip fractures.

Diagnosis

It often goes undetected until a fracture occurs. A bone mass density test (BMD) is recommended for all women over the age of sixty-five and any postmenopausal woman who has one or more other risk factors. The most common way to administer the BMD test is dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Other methods include quantitative computed tomography and quantitative ultrasound. These tests take five to ten minutes to administer and are safe and painless.

Treatment

Treatment involves medications which are either antiresorptives, meaning they help with the rate of bone resorption, or anabolic which help with bone formation. Antiresorptives include bisphosphonates such as ibandronate and risedronate. Other medications include calcitonin and estrogen therapy. Anabolic medications include parathyroid hormone treatment. Although these medications do not cure osteoporosis, they do function to help with bone resorption or bone formation. Neil Binkley and Diane Krueger note that medications should be used in conjunction with a comprehensive plan involving such things as proper nutrition (especially vitamin D and calcium), pain and depression management, a physical therapy program, exercise, and minimizing risk of falls.

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