Osteoporosis - what is it? The very concept of "osteoporosis" means nothing more than "porous bones". And there is an explanation for this. The fact is that with osteoporosis, the structure of the bones becomes more fragile and thin.
The disease is most common in those people who have reached the age of sixty or seventy. It affects women during menopause. If a person develops osteoporosis, then the likelihood of bone fracture due to their fragility increases dramatically.
Causes of pathology
In the human body, age-related changes provoke a decrease in bone density. This process is considered natural. However, there are people in whom these changes occur much earlier and are more intense. There are some reasons that provoke osteoporosis. What are these factors? They fall into two categories. The first of these includes such causes, the change of which a person cannot influence. These are heredity and a thin, weak skeleton, female sex and age over 65 years. But there are reasons that can be eliminated to the maximum to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Thus, the development of pathology is promoted by the usesome types of medicines. These include anticonvulsants and corticosteroids. Foods poor in vitamin D and calcium, as well as alcohol consumption, smoking, and a lifestyle that is devoid of active movements, increase the risk of osteoporosis.
Symptoms of pathology
There are certain signs that a person has osteoporosis. What are these symptoms? These are pain in the back, stoop and decrease in growth, as well as spinal deformity.
Sometimes a person is completely unaware that they have osteoporosis. It turns out the presence of pathology only with a fracture of the arm or leg. Of course, limb injuries can also occur at a young age. However, in osteoporosis, the stress that causes a fracture is much less.
Complications possible with pathology
Osteoporosis is often accompanied by frequent fractures, in which the fusion of bones is difficult and over a long period. The complication of the disease is expressed in difficult movements. This may cause external physical defects.
Osteoporosis of joints
Pathology often extends to tissues, as well as cartilage in the knee area. In the event that the joint is affected by osteoporosis, what does this mean? This is a degenerative process involving the largest (knee) joints. It gradually destroys cartilage. At the same time, the elastic and elastic properties of the knee joints are reduced. At the same time, bone deformation occurs in the legs, which causes the formation of outgrowths-thorns.
The main manifestation of osteoporosis in this case is swelling in the knee. This makes bending the leg difficult. The main causes of cartilage deformation are heredity, age and injury.
Diagnosis of osteoporosis
To detect pathology, two methods are currently used. These include bone densitometry and radiography. The first method is the most optimal. It allows you to track the places where the bone has the lowest density, that is, it can easily be injured. With the help of densitometry, the effectiveness of medications is monitored and bone mass loss is determined. The method is absolutely safe and painless.
