Treatment of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a systemic disease in which the processes of destruction of bone tissue prevails over its ability to regenerate and strengthen. When this occurs, the leaching of calcium salts from the bones, as they become unable to hold them inside. As a result, increased bone fragility, high susceptibility to fractures, which occur even with a slight impact from the outside. This can be a common injury, careless movement, the fall.

Osteoporosis – a dangerous disease, capable of provoking a lethal outcome. Most of it the death and disability of people is only because of cardiovascular pathologies, diabetes mellitus and cancer diseases.

Intrigue of the disease lies in the fact that osteoporosis is developing with a minimal set of symptoms. To feel their patient begins when the treatment becomes ineffective – this is the stage during which there are often fractures.

Find out more: Fractures - types of fractures, stages of coalescence

The content of the article:

• Factors influencing the development of osteoporosis
• Diagnostic methods
• Treatment of osteoporosis
• Symptomatic treatment of osteoporosis
• Treatment of osteoporosis at home
• Prevention

Factors influencing the development of osteoporosis

The main factors contributing to the development of osteoporosis:

• Lack of calcium in the body due to errors in the diet. It can be an unbalanced diet, a commitment to diverse diets, starvation, etc. Lack of calcium in the body often provoke failures in the process of absorption of vitamins and minerals.
• The lack of exercise. Prolonged supine, obezbijede situation leads to the fact that the body aktiviziruyutsya osteoclasts. They destroy bone tissue, violates its mineralization. Dangerous in this plan a long stay in weightlessness. In this regard, people diagnosed with osteoporosis need to maintain constant physical activity.
• Hormonal disturbances. The disease can develop because of any hormonal imbalance is disrupted hormone production the thyroid, parasitoides gland sex hormones and hormones of the pituitary gland.
• Secondary osteoporosis can develop when there is excessive use of alcoholic drinks, coffee, withthe presence of such harmful habits like Smoking, and on the background of blood diseases on the background of rheumatism, kidney failure, diabetes.
• If a person uses too much sparkling water, the disease of bone tissue can develop in him even at a young age. It is proved that in most parts of carbonated drinks contain substances that contribute to the leaching of calcium from bones.
• Another cause of osteoporosis is a disruption of the digestive system, the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
• Diseases of the spine develop mainly in older age after 60 years. Women suffer more often than men, the disease is diagnosed in them after menopause. In the male population the calcium in the bones last longer, the age loss comes later.

The main symptoms of the disease considered to be:

• Irregularities in the bone structure, which leads to their deformation.
• Stooped posture, loss in height due to the curvature of the spine, periodontal disease.
• Movement disorders of the joints, both large and small. Habitual physical activity result in fatigue.
• At night, a person may be convulsions that occur in the lower leg. Possible dull pain aching, or sharp pain in the spinal column and joints. Especially intense pain become during the change of weather.

To stop the development of osteoporosis is not possible, he is a companion of the aging of the whole organism. Prevent the leaching of calcium from bones is possible only in case when it is caused by other pathologies. However, this does not mean that slow the rate of disease development is impossible. Well-built treatment eliminates the development of complications.

Diagnostic methods

X-ray examination is the most common method of diagnosis of the disease. However, it is informative only in the case when there has been a loss of more than 30% of bone mass. To treat such a patient takes a long time, and the effect is not always achieved.

• CT. Using the scanner can detect the disease at an early stage of its development. For this purpose devices equipped with a special prefix. Also to identify the disease helps the ultrasound machine. But simultaneously is possible using these devices to examine the state of only one body part. While to assess the prevalence of pathological process it is necessary to explore several departments.
• Osteodystrophy.Modern medicine has x-ray densimetry through which you can assess mineral bone density in several parts of the body. Moreover, the accuracy of such studies is high. Able to track even a 2% loss of bone mass and to determine the level of muscle mass and body fat, the calcium content in the bones. These data correlate with the age and gender of the patient. Densitometric study of safe for health, it is quick and not painful. Side effects after diagnosis does not occur, so you can do it as many times as required.

However, the reason for which is loss of bone mass install with the help of these methods impossible. To do this as the attending physician.

In addition to the survey and examination of the patient, he will direct him to surrender the following tests:

• You need to pass urine for the determination of electrolytes;
• Blood sampling allows to detect the level of calcium, vitamin D and phosphorus;
• Requires a determination of the level of osteocalcin;
• We study the excretory capabilities of the kidneys;
• Rent blood for parathyroid hormone.

The research, conducted in the complex, allow you to get the most complete picture of the disease and to prescribe appropriate treatment.

Treatment of osteoporosis

Methods of treatment of osteoporosis is directly dependent on what character has the disease. If it is a secondary pathology, you will need to eliminate the root causes of illness – it may be correction of immune disorders, diseases of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, etc.

Primary osteoporosis is formed due to the aging of the body and occurs most often in women. Treatment requires a special approach, as most often the disease is diagnosed in the period after menopause. You need to slow down the leaching of calcium from bones and increase its capacity. When you do this, you need to consider what changes occurred in the synthesis of sex hormones.

Therapy is divided into the following components:

• Basic treatment with medication. Its purpose is correction of metabolic processes in the bones. The treatment is long-term, continuous, incremental.
• Hormone-replacement therapy.
• Symptomatic therapy.

The operation is carried out at the osteoporosis in hip and knee. If conservative treatmentfails, the shown joint replacement of the worn joint with an artificial one. It helps to improve the patients ' quality of life, extend, as it excludes the risk of spontaneous hip fracture.

The main treatment of osteoporosis

For the treatment of osteoporosis appoint regulators of calcium-phosphorus metabolism.

These medications replace a hormone function of the parathyroid gland:

• Calcitonin (Miacalcin). Prevents loss of calcium from bones the hormone calcitonin, it also takes part in its formation process, has analgesic effect. A drug made of salmon calcitonin and acts like your own human hormone. This purpose can be used such drugs as: Ostovar, Elastin, Verena.
• Drugs-bisphosphine focused on the inhibition of the process of loss of bone mass, normalize bone mineralization. Perhaps the appointment of the following means: Risedronate, Alendronate, Ibandronate, and Zoledronic acid (Ksidifon, Etidronate, Bonefos, Fosamax).
• The integrated product Osteogenon prevents the destruction of bone tissue (inhibits the synthesis of osteoclasts and stimulates osteoblasts), promotes the process of bone formation.
• On stimulation of bone formation aimed fluorine derivatives is Calcic, Fluosilicic, Osin, Corberon.
• To stimulate osteoblasts used parathyroid hormone teriparatide – Forsteo. You need to enter it in the form of injections.

All of these drugs can be prescribed only by a doctor who will monitor the blood, urine methods of laboratory diagnostics. This will assess the effectiveness of treatment.

Hormone-replacement therapy

Therapy with hormonal drugs is very common. It is prescribed to people with severe osteoporosis, a disease in the early stages of its development and even to those patients who have only the preconditions for the development of pathology. For women who entered menopausal period designate specific modulators of estrogen receptors. It is drugs such as Raloxifene, Keoxifene, Evista, Raloxifene. Their technique helps to stop the process of destruction of the bone, or significantly slow down. The risk of fractures decreases exactly in half.

Assign themselves estrogen, for example, drugs Femoston, Kliogest, in combination with drugs calcium. But we should remember that the acceptance of èstrogensoderžaŝimi drugs modifies the risk of development of oncological diseases gynaecological plan. To achieve the effect, you will need to take estrogen, at least 5 years. In parallel controlled by the level of hormones in the blood. The withdrawal of drugs produce gradually, reducing the dose slowly.

You can't take estrogen for those patients who are at risk for oncological diseases, as well as those patients who have the tendency to thrombotic complications. Besides hormonal estrogen therapy refers to supportive therapy and are not able to replenish the level of calcium in the bones.

Calcium supplements for osteoporosis

To stop the progression of the disease, you need to use calcium supplements. They work much better than the inclusion in the menu of foods rich in this trace mineral, or the use of folk methods of treatment.

To increase the effectiveness of therapy the calcium is administered in combination with regulators of calcium metabolism:

• Shown taking a multivitamin – it may be Elevit, Kalcinova, expert hair nutrimaks. But since these tools, many components are absorbed they are worse than mono-preparations. Therefore, their use as a preventive, not as a therapeutic agent.
• Receiving monovitigno with calcium salts. The calcium gluconate is poorly absorbed, so it is best to take such as calcium Glycerophosphate, calcium Lactate, calcium Chloride.
• You can assign the combination product in which the calcium is combined withvitamin D – it could be Calcium D3 Nycomed, Portokalli in combination with calcium citrate, Vitamin D3 in combination with Vitrum calcium.

Learn more: Calcium for osteoporosis: which calcium is best?

Pick up tool can only be a doctor. If you take calcium supplements without medical supervision, it threatens with deposition of salts of trace elements in soft tissues, which will lead to the defeat of the kidneys, heart, blood vessels. Especially dangerous use of vitamin D for the treatment of children. Incorrect dosage can affect health problems in the future. The same applies to the irrational use of hormonal methods.

Modern method of treatment of osteoporosis

Doctors use a qualitatively new approach in the treatment of osteoporosis, it is reduced to the following points:

• You must accurately identify any areas of bone affected by osteoporosis.
• This is followed by a cleansing of the bone lacunae by shock-wave method.
• The next stage is the introduction of an extract of animal tissues, and ionized calcium under narcotize.
• Conducting the standard therapy.

This scheme of treatment of osteoporosis is applicable to patients of any age.

At Oakland University, located in New Zealand occurred study the latest medication, which should become a real breakthrough in terms of treatment of osteoporosis. Is the drug zometa, which is produced by Novartis AJ (Switzerland) and represents zoledronic acid. To enter it is enough 1 time per year, no more therapy is required. Based on the study, it was found that the decay of the bone tissue after administration of the injection is slowed down for a year, and the bone itself becomes more dense. However, data regarding the prevention of bone fractures yet, but tests continue.

Symptomatic treatment of osteoporosis

• Analgesics and myeloblasts for pain and muscle spasms, NSAIDs for arthritis. This allows the patient to avoid the progression of the disease due to physical inactivity.
• Treatment of fractures with surgical intervention.
• The passage of physiotherapy, implementation of complexes of therapeutic physical training.
• Observance of a diet with inclusion in the menu of foods rich in magnesium, phosphorus and calcium.
• The rejection of the use ofof carbonated beverages.

Treatment of osteoporosis at home

Definitely need to adjust your menu. For slowing the progression of osteoporosis should include foods with vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus. It's not only dairy products but also sea Kale, spinach, broccoli, fatty fish, beans, eggplant.

From the table it becomes clear, how much calcium is in various foods. The calculation is carried out on the basis of 100 g product.

Calcium is absorbed in the body in youth is only 30-35%, and in old age by 10-15%. Additionally, this process prevents chocolate, tea, coffee and alcohol.

If you are treatment with calcium, you also need to take vitamin D. If this is not done, calcium is simply excreted by the kidneys. Being in the sun, you can enrich your body with this necessary vitamin.

At home you can perform physical exercises that is prescribed by a doctor, do self-massage.

Folk medicine recommends to use egg shells, infused with lemon juice. However, any pharmaceutical preparations that are commercially available, will be much more effective than shell eggs.

Prevention

Prevention of osteoporosis is reduced to the following activities:

• The mother needs to take care of the skeletal system of the child at a time, while he is in her womb. For this she needs to take vitamins that are recommended by the doctor. During childhood you need to pay attention to the accumulation of bone mass, for which the child should be fed properly, to ensure that he was engaged in physical culture, dancing, gymnastics, etc.
• In adolescence and adulthood need to avoid inhaling tobacco smoke, alcohol, sweet drinks. Sex life should be regular.
• During menopause should seek qualified medical help, because in the first 10 years after menopause, calcium from your bones is leached especially rapidly.

It is important to understand that osteoporosis is a disease that to cure yourself is impossible. To accept the presented information as a guide to self-medication should not be. It is designed to ensure that people understand the dangers of the disease and delayed diagnosis the quality. Treats osteoporosis only doctor.