Collin County Living Well Magazine Winter 2014 | Page 24

WHY BONE HEALTH IS IMPORTANT
By Anupam Singhal, MD
When you think about staying healthy, you probably think about making lifestyle changes to prevent
conditions like cancer and heart disease. Keeping your bones healthy to prevent osteoporosis may not be at
the top of the wellness list. But it should be.

OSTEOPOROSIS,

“porous bone,”

which means
is a disease characterized by
low bone mass (bone thinning)
that leads to bones becoming
weak and breaking more easily.
Throughout your lifetime, old bone
is removed (a process called resorption) and new bone is added
to the skeleton (a process called
formation). As we age, the rate at
which old bone is removed and
new bone is formed changes. Bone
resorption slowly begins to exceed
bone formation and, as a result, osteoporosis can occur.
Osteoporosis is much more common than you might think. In fact,
the National Osteoporosis Foundation states that osteoporosis is
a major public health threat for
an estimated 44 million Americans
(80% of whom are women). Of that
total, it is estimated that 10 million already have the disease and
nearly 34 million have abnormally
low bone mass, placing them at
increased risk for osteoporosis. Estimates also suggest that about half
of all women and one in four men
older than will break a bone because of osteoporosis. The Surgeon
General reported that by 2020, half
of all Americans over 50 will be at
risk for fractures from osteoporosis
and low bone mass. With the 50+
year old population growing, I believe this disease will continue to be
a significant medical issue.
Breaking a bone is serious, especially when you’re older. Osteoporosis is responsible for more than two
million fractures annually in the U.S.
Broken bones due to osteoporosis
are most likely to occur in the hip,
spine and wrist. Broken bones can

cause severe pain that may not
go away. Some people lose height
and become shorter. It can also affect your posture, causing you to
become stooped and hunched.
This happens when
the bones of the
spine, called vertebrae, begin to break
or collapse.
Osteoporosis
may
even keep you from
getting around easily
and doing the things
you enjoy. This can
make you feel isolated and depressed. It
can also lead to other health problems,
which can cause an
increase in death. A
hip fracture in an older person increases the chance of death sixfold in four years, and a spinal fracture increases the chance of death
eight-fold in four years.
Spinal fractures or vertebral compression fractures are the most
common osteoporotic fracture.
With more than 700,000 spinal fractures a year, this fracture can lead
to significant changes in everyday
activities and quality of life. It can
also cause disability, pain or loss
of independence. In fact, women
age 65 or older with one or more
spinal fractures have a 23% higher
mortality rate than women of the
same age without fractures.
Osteoporosis is often called the “silent disease” because bone loss
occurs without symptoms. A person
may not know they have osteoporosis until their bones become so
weak that a sudden strain, bump

Dr. Singhal is available to discuss
spine related issues and treatments for
osteoporotic spinal fractures. His office
number is 972-867-7862.

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COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | WINTER 2014

or fall causes a fracture. For some
people affected by the disease,
simple activities such as lifting a
child, bending down to pick up a
newspaper, hugging a relative or
even sneezing can
cause a bone to
break. This sudden
spinal fracture can
cause severe back
pain and debilitation.
In the past, treatments to address
the pain associated with osteoporotic spinal fractures were limited to
back braces, pain
medications, physical therapy and
bed rest. Now, there are other options to alleviate the pain more
ef