STRONGER BONES......... STRONGER YOU......

 OUCH!!!!!!

                                                       

Osteoporosis by medical dictionary is defined as

   “loss of bone density due to excessive absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the bone due to progressive loss of the protein matrix of bone which normally carries calcium deposits.”

Osteoporosis is derived from Greek word osteon-bone, porous-passage and osis –condition. It may be primary and secondary. Primary osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease due to low bone mass and gradual weakening of bone tissue leading to enhanced bone fragility and increased fracture risk. Secondary osteoporosis is due to various chronic conditions which are either because of bone mineral loss, effect of medication and other nutritional deficiencies.

Generally osteoporosis is considered as a post menopausal disease or disease related to women but as it is a bone disease associated with a gradual thinning and weakening of bone as estimated that 1 out of 2 women and 1 out of 4 men suffer from osteoporosis after 50 years and Asians and whites are more susceptible to it than blacks.

Calcium is important constituent in bone formation .99.5% of total body calcium is used in bone formation and vitamin d promotes calcium absorption in gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphorus concentration to enable normal mineralization of bone to prevent hypocalcaemia. It is needed for bone growth and remodeling by osteoblast and osteoclast .in early research on vitamin d the best source is sunlight as 5-30mins sun exposure between 10a.m.-3p.m. at least twice a week is enough to form active vitamin d .as vitamin d undergo two hydroxylation in the body for activation, first in liver as calcidiol and second in kidney and forms calcitriol.other sources of vitamin d are egg yolk and fish, fortified cereals etc.. For calcium the rich source is milk but people who suffer from milk intolerance so we can get it from other dairy products like yogurt, cheese and in vegetables are spinach, okra, soybeans etc and in fruits are banana, dates plums etc...the daily recommended doses of calcium for men or women (1000-1200mg) and for vitamin d (400-1000 IU).the natural sources for calcium and vitamin  d is good for osteoporotic patient because if taking too much calcium from supplements lead to stones in kidney and if patient suffers from kidney problem then the condition become more worst. The gland which is responsible to regulate calcium in blood is parathyroid gland by releasing its hormone although thyroid gland does not involve in maintenance of calcium but in metabolism. The condition known as hyper parathyriodism and hyper thyroidism is associated with an increase in excretion of calcium and phosphorous in urine and stool which result in decrease bone minerals causing hyper calcaemia with a decrease in bone calcium and increase in blood calcium resulting in osteoporosis.

Our life style also contributes increasing rate of developing osteoporosis day by day. We all love to eat fast food, foods that have high content of fats, salt with lots of cola yummy!!!! They drastically increase the number of osteoporotic patient. Its estimated that 1glass (240ml) of soft drinks consumes approximately 6-8  glass of milk’s calcium from our body .but now a days we use it instead of water ,energy drinks are also more lethal than these colas. The disease with come after 50s now come before 20s early menopause, bone pain ,sprain back ache ,ligaments tearing and other joint pain are the sign and symptoms of osteopenia,osteoporosis and other bone diseases. Beside this alcoholism, cigratte smokers, patient on long term steroidal therapy are more prone to this disease with low body weight, lack of physical exercise and genetic factor.

The precaution and counseling taken to avoid early osteoporosis are

·         Certain test like bone density test which is based on T-score (a measure of how dense patient bone is and how much it is susceptible to disease.

Ø  Normal bone mass T-score is between (0 to -1)

Ø  Osteopenia ( low bone mass)  is between ( -1 to -2.5)

Ø  Osteoporosis (very low bone mass) is < -2.5.

·         Thyroid test levels of T3, T4 & TSH are check to know if patient suffer from hyperthyroidism or not.

·         Serum calcium and vitamin D values are normal or not.

·         Bone X-rays.

            After these precautions if patient suffer from osteoporosis then

·         Proper checkup with osteoporosis therapy under the supervision of physician.

·         It can better control by schedualized your diet pattern with proper milk intake, fruits, vegetables proteins etc.

                              IT'S NO COINCIDENCE THAT FOUR OF THE SIX LETTERS IN              HEALTH ARE "HEAL".

                                                                  
                                                                                              AFFAF SHEIKH