Chelsea Hornyak
MED 2047
Osteoporosis
Instructor Michelle Earixson-Lamonthe
2/28/15
VNFT031
Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones. The word osteoporosis means “porous bone.” It is a metabolic bone disorder which means that the rate of bone breakdown, which is called resorption, speeds up while the rate of bone formation slows down causing a loss of bone mass. In other words, osteoporosis happens when you lose too much bone, make too little bone, or even both. As a result of losing bone mass, your bones become weak and may break from a minor fall. For example, your bones may break due to falling off of a chair that is only two feet high. In some serious cases of osteoporosis, your bones may break even …show more content…
Osteoporosis is usually asymptomatic until you fracture a bone, which is called pathological fractures, with very minimal trauma. According to the Atlas of Pathophysiology (2010), a sign and symptom of Osteoporosis is “spontaneous fractures or those involving minimal trauma to vertebrae, distal radius, or femoral neck,” (p. 236). You may even notice that you are getting shorter or your upper back is starting to curve forward, which is called kyphosis. Other signs and symptoms would be decreased exercise tolerance, low back pain, and neck pain. It is important to get diagnostic tests to see if you have this condition. There is a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry test, a DEXA scan, to measure bone mass of the extremities, hips and spine. Secondly, by getting an X-ray it can show typical degeneration in the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. It can also reveal fractures. If you have osteoporosis, the vertebral bodies may appear flattened and may look denser than normal. Thirdly, a Computed tomography scan, CT scan, can detect spinal bone loss. A bone biopsy shows how thin and porous your bones are. Lastly, laboratory studies will reveal that you have elevated parathyroid hormone in your body. If you experience any of these signs and symptoms is it important to see your doctor to perform these diagnostic …show more content…
Some risk factors include immobility and living a sedentary lifestyle. When you have prolonged therapy with heparin, steroids, and anticonvulsants you can cause osteoporosis. Women are at most risk for developing osteoporosis than men because the hormone changes that occurs in menopause directly affects the density in your bones. Also smoking, alcoholism, caffeine intake, and malnutrition are major risk factors. Malnutrition can include not enough intake of calcium. People that are lactose intolerant are also at risk. Some endocrine disorders such as hyperthyroidism, hyperparathryroidism, Diabetes Mellitus, and Cushing’s syndrome put people at risk. Major complications that occur with this disorder can be hip and wrist factures, loss of mobility and compression fractures of the
MED 2047
Osteoporosis
Instructor Michelle Earixson-Lamonthe
2/28/15
VNFT031
Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones. The word osteoporosis means “porous bone.” It is a metabolic bone disorder which means that the rate of bone breakdown, which is called resorption, speeds up while the rate of bone formation slows down causing a loss of bone mass. In other words, osteoporosis happens when you lose too much bone, make too little bone, or even both. As a result of losing bone mass, your bones become weak and may break from a minor fall. For example, your bones may break due to falling off of a chair that is only two feet high. In some serious cases of osteoporosis, your bones may break even …show more content…
Osteoporosis is usually asymptomatic until you fracture a bone, which is called pathological fractures, with very minimal trauma. According to the Atlas of Pathophysiology (2010), a sign and symptom of Osteoporosis is “spontaneous fractures or those involving minimal trauma to vertebrae, distal radius, or femoral neck,” (p. 236). You may even notice that you are getting shorter or your upper back is starting to curve forward, which is called kyphosis. Other signs and symptoms would be decreased exercise tolerance, low back pain, and neck pain. It is important to get diagnostic tests to see if you have this condition. There is a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry test, a DEXA scan, to measure bone mass of the extremities, hips and spine. Secondly, by getting an X-ray it can show typical degeneration in the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. It can also reveal fractures. If you have osteoporosis, the vertebral bodies may appear flattened and may look denser than normal. Thirdly, a Computed tomography scan, CT scan, can detect spinal bone loss. A bone biopsy shows how thin and porous your bones are. Lastly, laboratory studies will reveal that you have elevated parathyroid hormone in your body. If you experience any of these signs and symptoms is it important to see your doctor to perform these diagnostic …show more content…
Some risk factors include immobility and living a sedentary lifestyle. When you have prolonged therapy with heparin, steroids, and anticonvulsants you can cause osteoporosis. Women are at most risk for developing osteoporosis than men because the hormone changes that occurs in menopause directly affects the density in your bones. Also smoking, alcoholism, caffeine intake, and malnutrition are major risk factors. Malnutrition can include not enough intake of calcium. People that are lactose intolerant are also at risk. Some endocrine disorders such as hyperthyroidism, hyperparathryroidism, Diabetes Mellitus, and Cushing’s syndrome put people at risk. Major complications that occur with this disorder can be hip and wrist factures, loss of mobility and compression fractures of the