subject: Osteoporosis And Hip Fracture [print this page] Osteoporosis And Hip Fracture Osteoporosis And Hip Fracture
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that mainly preys upon older women. As a bone disease, osteoporosis develops without any signs or symptoms that you see. Should this disease strike you, it will affect both the strength and sturdiness within your bones.
The femur, or thigh bone, is one of the strongest and largest bones in the body. It usually takes a tremendous force to fracture a femur through the center. But there is a weak point, and it is located toward the top, at the neck of the femur, at its narrowest point. This is just below where the femur inserts into the pelvis and creates a ball-and-socket joint. It is this area that is prone to fractures, particularly in the elderly and/or those with osteoporosis.
Hip fractures are the most devastating consequence of osteoporosis. There are more than 300,000 osteoporosis-related hip fractures in the United States each year, two-thirds of which occur in women. Fractures of the spine, known as compression fractures, are also quite common. There have been reports of golfers who have sustained compression fractures of the spine while playing golf.
Statistics show that age is a large factor. The majority of hip related injuries and fractures occur in people over 80. There are two main reasons why this may be true: bone density loss and the presence of other medical conditions affecting balance and mobility. But also effecting elderly patients are general aging issues like loss of vision and a decreasing or weakening sense of balance.
For those elderly citizens that still live independently at home, it is also imperative to do everything possible to prevent potential falls in the house. If the phone is out of reach, it could be some time before help arrives. So, many seniors now have an alert necklace. If a fall occurs, pushing the button will notify family and medical personnel that you need help now.
Unable to move and maintain good circulation, patients are more likely to suffer from blood clots. Unfortunately, a blood clot in the leg does not stay in the lower extremity. Instead, a clot can travel through the blood stream and find its way into the lung or heart. Then, it becomes a fatal problem. A hip fracture can lead to a pulmonary embolism.
Perhaps you have osteopenia. Osteopenia is the precursor to osteoporosis. When you have osteopenia, your bone mass has already thinned - not as severely as when you have osteoporosis, but you are on your way to brittle bones. Basically, you get osteopenia when your body does not build new bone mass at the rate you are loosing old bone mass. Building new bone mass is called osteoid synthesis (how is that for a mouth full!). Normal bone loss is referred to by an equally challenging phrase - bone lysis.
