OSTEOPOROSIS
"If hypertension is a silent killer, osteoporosis is a silent thief. It insidiously robs the skeleton of its banked resources, often for decades, until the bone is weak enough to sustain a spontaneous fracture." F. S. Kaplan, 1983
Osteoporosis has been called the "silent epidemic" and presently afflicts one in every three women in western civilization. However, if women take the right precautions early enough this insidious bone-weakening disease is preventable.
Osteoporosis is the abnormal loss of calcium from the bones, which causes them to weaken and become susceptible to fractures (breakage) h was once thought that osteoporosis was simply a normal part of the ageing process and that it should be accepted gracefully because, after all, n was just a manifestation of mother nature. We now know this is not the case. Osteoporosis is a disease that can be avoided in the majority of cases.
Nowadays, no woman should have to suffer its debilitating effects Epidemiologists predict that by the year 2050 the world will be full "l little old ladies, one third of them suffering with osteoporosis. I feel that this is unduly pessimistic as doctors now know how to prevent it. By the year 2050, I believe we will see the good results of preventative medicine reflected in a much lower incidence than the current epidemic
Currently, osteoporosis is very common; by the age of 60 one in four women living in the western world will have developed a significant degree of bone loss. Most of these women are free of symptoms in the early stages of osteoporosis — so we have on our hands a silent epidemic.
By the age of 75, one quarter of all women will have sustained a fracture of the hip. Four in every five fractured hips are associated with osteoporosis. One third of the women who fracture their hips will die within Six months.
By now you are probably shaking in your boots, feeling that it would be easier to avoid death and taxes than osteoporosis. Do not despair. By following simple guidelines, osteoporosis can be prevented.
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