What is Osteoporosis? 
Osteoporosis is a disease of the bone that occurs when you lose too much bone, make too little bone or both. As a result, your bones become weak and may break from a minor fall or, in serious cases, even from sneezing or bumping into furniture.
Osteoporosis means “porous bone.” If you look at healthy bone under a microscope, you will see that parts of it look like a honeycomb. If you have osteoporosis, the holes and spaces in the honeycomb are much bigger than they are in healthy bone. This means your bones have lost density or mass and that the structure of your bone tissue has become abnormal. As your bones become less dense, they also become weaker and more likely to break. If you’re age 50 or older and have broken a bone, talk to your doctor or other healthcare provider and ask if you should have a bone density test.

Osteoporosis is Common
About 54 million Americans have osteoporosis and low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis. Studies suggest that approximately one in two women and up to one in four men age 50 and older will break a bone due to osteoporosis. 

Osteoporosis is Serious
Breaking a bone is a serious complication of osteoporosis, especially when you’re older. Broken bones due to osteoporosis are most likely to occur in the hip, spine and wrist, but other bones can break too. Broken bones can cause severe pain that may not go away. Osteoporosis also causes some people to lose height. When osteoporosis causes the bones of the spine, called vertebrae, to break or collapse, it affects your posture and causes you to become stooped or hunched.

Osteoporosis may even keep you from getting around easily and doing the things you enjoy, which may bring feelings of isolation or depression. It can also lead to other health problems. Twenty percent of seniors who break a hip die within one year from problems related to the broken bone itself or surgery to repair it. Many of those who survive need long-term nursing home care.

Osteoporosis is Costly
Osteoporosis is responsible for two million broken bones and $19 billion in related costs every year. By 2025, experts predict that osteoporosis will be responsible for approximately three million fractures and $25.3 billion in costs each year.

Osteoporosis can Sneak up on You
Osteoporosis is often called a silent disease because you can’t feel your bones getting weaker. Breaking a bone is often the first sign that you have osteoporosis or you may notice that you are getting shorter or your upper back is curving forward. If you are experiencing height loss or your spine is curving, be sure to talk to your doctor or another healthcare professional right away as the disease may be already be advanced

Bone Basics

Some people think of bones as hard and lifeless, but they are actually living, growing tissue. Your bones are made up of three major components that make them flexible and strong:
•Collagen, a protein that gives bones a flexible framework 
•Calcium-phosphate mineral complexes that make bones hard and strong 
•Living bone cells that remove and replace weakened sections of bone

Did you know… that throughout your life, you constantly lose old bone while you make new bone?
 
Children and teenagers form bone faster than they lose bone.

Even after children and teens stop growing taller, they continue to make more bone than they lose. This means their bones continue getting denser until they reach what experts call peak bone mass, the point when you have the greatest amount of bone you will ever have. Peak bone mass usually happens between the ages of 18 and 25. The more bone you have at the time of peak bone mass, the less likely you are to break a bone or get osteoporosis later in life.

As you age, you can lose more bone than you form.

After you reach peak bone mass, the balance between bone formation and bone loss might start to change.  You may start to slowly lose more bone than you form. In midlife, bone loss usually speeds up in both men and women. For most women, bone loss increases after menopause, when estrogen levels drop sharply. In fact, in the five to seven years after menopause, women can lose up to 20 percent or more of their bone density. Osteoporosis happens when you lose too much bone, make too little bone, or both.

It’s never too late at any age to take steps to protect your bones.


To learn more about bone health and osteoporosis, you can go to: 
http://nof.org/

Contact Information

Acadiana Health & Wellness
155 Hospital Drive Suite #301
Lafayette, LA 70503

P: 337-232-1010

F: 337-234-3591


Office Hours: 
Monday-Thursday   8 am - 5 pm

Friday 8am - 12pm

Phlebotomy Hours:

Monday-Friday   7:30 am - 10:30 am

 

 

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.