Seven questions and answers about osteoporosis, for healthy bones

Author: Zeng Lu, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University

Reviewer: Zhu Jiaojiao, deputy chief nurse, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University

Back pain, numbness in the arms, frequent cramps during sleep... If you have these symptoms, you should pay attention, because it is likely "osteoporosis"! That is, your bones are becoming "empty" little by little!

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Seeing this, some people may still not take it seriously, thinking that "osteoporosis is a disease that only the elderly will get" and "osteoporosis is not a serious disease." In fact, osteoporosis is gradually becoming younger and is very likely to cause falls, fractures, and even death.

Today, let us get to know the “culprit” of “weakness in old age” - osteoporosis.

1. What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a systemic bone metabolism disorder caused by a variety of reasons, which leads to decreased bone density and quality, damaged bone tissue microstructure, increased bone brittleness, and prone to fractures.

2. Does osteoporosis have symptoms?

Yes. Osteoporosis generally presents with a series of symptoms such as body aches, back pain, spinal deformity, decreased height, and easy fractures.

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3. Is osteoporosis caused by calcium deficiency? I take calcium tablets every day, so why do I still have osteoporosis?

First of all, osteoporosis is not necessarily caused by calcium deficiency. As people age, with changes in hormones and metabolic levels, active vitamin D in the body may be deficient, which in turn causes the body's calcium utilization rate to decrease and bone mass to decrease. In addition, the sudden drop in estrogen in menopausal women due to ovarian dysfunction can also lead to bone loss and accelerate the progression of osteoporosis. Therefore, the cause of osteoporosis is by no means a simple "insufficient calcium intake", nor can it be solved by drinking more bone soup or taking more calcium tablets; the reason is that the human body's ability to absorb calcium is insufficient. In other words, even if you take calcium tablets all day long, if the body cannot effectively absorb calcium and enter the bones, osteoporosis will still occur.

4. What causes osteoporosis?

1. Uncontrollable factors: race, aging, menopause in women, and family history of fragility fractures.

2. Controllable factors: ① Unhealthy lifestyle: such as lack of physical activity, excessive drinking, smoking, drinking caffeinated beverages, etc.; ② Diseases: such as hyperparathyroidism, Cushing's syndrome, hyperthyroidism, etc.; ③ Drugs that cause osteoporosis: such as glucocorticoids, etc.

5. Will young people not suffer from osteoporosis?

Young people can also suffer from osteoporosis. There are four main reasons why young people suffer from osteoporosis.

1. Excessive sun protection: Some women always try to block or avoid the sun in order to avoid getting tanned. In fact, moderate exposure to sunlight is beneficial to the body's absorption of calcium. Excessive sun protection will affect the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the body, and vitamin D3 can promote calcium absorption. Lack of vitamin D3 will cause a serious lack of calcium in the body. The body has to release calcium from the bones to maintain blood calcium levels, which leads to osteoporosis.

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2. Dieting to lose weight: Some young people choose to diet to lose weight. They usually do not drink milk, eat vegetarian food, and have an unreasonable diet structure, which leads to a serious lack of calcium intake. In addition, for women who diet to lose weight, while losing weight, their estrogen levels (fat is one of the effective sources of estrogen) are also decreasing. In the long run, this will lead to reduced bone formation and accelerated bone loss, thus suffering from osteoporosis.

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3. Bad living habits: such as long-term irregular sleep, excessive smoking, drinking, excessive drinking of coffee, carbonated drinks, etc., can also easily cause bone loss and induce osteoporosis. Studies have shown that people who often drink carbonated drinks have a three times higher risk of fractures than their peers.

Therefore, we must eat a balanced diet, change bad living habits, increase outdoor exercise, and have regular physical examinations, so as to effectively avoid health risks and stay away from osteoporosis.

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6. What should patients with osteoporosis pay attention to in their diet?

1. Osteoporosis patients should avoid eating foods rich in oxalic acid and high-calcium foods at the same time, because oxalic acid and calcium combine to form calcium oxalate, which will affect the absorption of calcium. Therefore, when eating spinach, amaranth, lettuce and other foods, they should avoid eating high-calcium foods such as fish soup and tofu soup at the same time.

2. Osteoporosis patients should try to eat less fried greasy food, spicy, overly salty, and overly sweet food. Overly salty food will increase calcium loss and aggravate osteoporosis symptoms. Sugar and other sweet foods can affect calcium absorption and indirectly cause osteoporosis.

3. Osteoporosis patients should abstain from smoking, drinking, strong tea, coffee, etc., as these often increase calcium loss and aggravate osteoporosis symptoms.

7. How to prevent and treat osteoporosis?

1. Primary prevention: Start from children and adolescents. Pay attention to a reasonable diet and eat more foods rich in calcium and phosphorus. Adhere to a scientific lifestyle, exercise more and get some sun exposure. Do not smoke, drink alcohol, and drink less coffee, strong tea and carbonated drinks. Do moderate weight-bearing functional exercises, such as running, playing basketball, and playing football, which can help prevent osteoporosis.

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2. Secondary prevention: Bone loss accelerates in middle-aged people, especially in women after menopause. Attention should be paid to actively treating diseases related to osteoporosis, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, steatorrhea, chronic nephritis, hyperparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism, bone metastasis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, etc.

3. Tertiary prevention: Patients with degenerative osteoporosis should be actively treated with drugs that inhibit bone absorption and promote bone formation, such as estrogen, calcium, active vitamin D, etc. In addition, measures should be strengthened to prevent falls, collisions, trips, and bumps. For middle-aged and elderly patients with fractures, surgical treatment should be actively adopted, early postoperative activities, physical therapy, physiotherapy, calcium supplementation, analgesia, etc., to promote bone growth, curb bone loss, and improve the patient's immune function and overall quality.