Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis means “porous bone.” It affects one out of every four women over the age of 50. Normally the inside of the bone looks something like a sponge. With osteoporosis it is as if the holes in the sponge become larger and more numerous so the bones become weaker and are much more likely to break. Everyone’s bones get weaker with age. In fact, we all begin to lose some bone as early as 30 years old. For women, menopause changes the picture dramatically. When women reach menopause, or “the change of life” (usually around 50 years of age), their estrogen levels go way down and their periods stop. This will lead to bones becoming thin and weak. This continues, painlessly, year after year and is not noticed until you break a bone.

Osteoporosis is a serious disease leading to nearly 200,000 women fracturing a hip each year. One fifth of women who breaks a hip will die of complications within a year. Many of those women who do not die will require long term nursing home care. One fourth of women above the age of 60 have broken bones in her spine which may greatly limit daily activities and lead to serious deforming (dowager’s hump) as well.

Osteoporosis can be detected by a DEXA or “bone density scan” and treated in its early phases. This can be done in our office as part of your preventive medicine screening every 2 to 5 years, depending on your clinical picture.

Medical Disclaimer: The information provided in the Gynecology and Infertility Associates web site should be relied upon for medical education purposes only. It is not intended to replace the independent judgment of a health care provider. The appropriateness of a course of treatment for a patient may vary from the medical information provided herein due to individual conditions and/or complications.