Is osteoporosis not just for the elderly? She took a test and found that her bone density was "lower than her mother-in-law's"! Experts reveal 7 extremely high-risk groups
Taiwan is about to enter a super-aged society, and the number of patients with osteoporosis is also increasing year by year. “Osteoporosis” is the destruction of the microstructure of bones, leading to bone fragility, bone loss, or decreased bone density. Especially in women after menopause, the rate of bone loss will increase rapidly due to the rapid decrease in estrogen secretion. The initial symptoms of osteoporosis are not obvious, and because “shortness, stoop, and pain” are similar to the symptoms of aging, it is often not until a fracture occurs and you seek medical treatment that you realize your bone density is too low and you are diagnosed with osteoporosis.
Is osteoporosis fracture + long-term bed rest likely to kill? Doctor: Death rate increases by 22% within one year
Taiwanese people generally have high awareness of osteoporosis, but they do not necessarily understand that it is a preventable and treatable disease, and they are not aware of the future impact and burden of fractures caused by osteoporosis. Surveys show that osteoporosis is one of the common chronic diseases for people over 65 years old, and the incidence of hip fractures in Taiwan ranks first in Asia. Once osteoporosis fracture occurs, it will seriously affect the quality of life.
Huang Zhaoshan, Chairman of the Osteoporosis Society of Taiwan, said that after hip fracture, it is easy to cause pain in the buttocks and make it impossible to move, leading to long-term bed rest, which can lead to bed sores, pneumonia, urethritis, phlebitis, malnutrition, depression and other diseases or symptoms. , which may seriously lead to lower quality of life in the future and the risk of becoming disabled and bedridden. After a hip fracture occurs, the one-year mortality rate is as high as 22%.
Is osteoporosis not just for the elderly? She took a test and found that her bone density was “lower than her mother-in-law’s”
Chairman Huang Zhaoshan also pointed out that after osteoporotic fractures, about 45% of elderly people will fracture again within one year, and second-degree fractures will lead to an increased risk of death. If there are elders in the family suffering from osteoporosis, they should be more cautious about this disease. However, we cannot think that osteoporosis is a disease that only needs attention in old age.
Chairman Huang Zhaoshan shared that a middle-aged woman about 50 years old once took her mother-in-law to the doctor for treatment of osteoporosis. After the doctor reminded her that she was also a risk group, she also underwent a bone density test. After the test, I found out that my bone density T-score was lower than -3.0, lower than my mother-in-law who had been diagnosed with osteoporosis! “Aging is not the only risk factor for osteoporosis. If you suffer from endocrine diseases such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, etc., or use steroids for a long time, there is a high possibility of causing osteoporosis. Do not be careful.”
Taking “DXA test” early can help prevent osteoporosis! If the bone density T-score is “less than -2.5”, this drug will be used
If you are a high-risk group for osteoporosis, Chairman Huang Zhaoshan recommends conducting a “DXA test” as soon as possible to check whether there is low bone density. The full name of DXA bone density test is “dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry”. It can accurately measure bone density value through low-energy X-ray irradiation, which is the main basis for clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis.
After the DXA bone density test is completed, the doctor will provide treatment or dietary life suggestions based on the “T value” that represents bone density. According to the test results, osteoporosis can be diagnosed when the bone density T value is “less than -2.5”. At present, in addition to the radiology departments of major hospitals, more and more clinics are equipped with DXA detectors. In addition, there are also mobile DXA testing vehicles that go deep into the countryside to improve medical accessibility for the public.
Chairman Huang Zhaoshan emphasized that the subjects only need to lie on the DXA detector to receive the scan. The whole process takes about 5 minutes. Low-dose radiation is used to detect the bone density of the hip joint and spine. The detection process will not feel pain, and the radiation The exposure dose is only one-tenth of that of a chest X-ray, making it a fairly safe and non-invasive examination. In addition to screening and diagnosing osteoporosis, DXA testing can also assess a patient’s risk of fracture within 10 years. If the detected bone density T-score is lower than -3.0, the patient is at extremely high risk of fracture.
Are the consequences of osteoporotic fractures irreversible? Experts reveal 7 groups at extremely high risk of osteoporosis
According to the 2023 Consensus and Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis in Adults in Taiwan, patients with osteoporosis are at extremely high risk of fracture if they meet one of the following conditions:
Bone density T-score lower than -3.0
Osteoporotic fracture within the last 12 months
Fractures occur despite treatment for osteoporosis
Multiple osteoporotic fractures
Patients who are taking drugs that can cause bone loss and have fractures, such as fractures in patients who have been using steroids for a long time
Patients with a high risk of falling or a history of injurious falls
Patients with extremely high fracture risk, such as 10-year major osteoporotic fracture risk >30%, hip fracture risk >4.5%
The consequences of osteoporosis fractures are serious and irreversible, so it is crucial for patients with osteoporosis to receive proper treatment. Currently, drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis can be divided into two categories: “osteogenesis-promoting drugs” and “anti-bone loss drugs” . Dai Dawei, Secretary-General of the Osteoporosis Society of Taiwan, explained that according to the 2020 American Academy of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) osteoporosis treatment guidelines, people with osteoporosis who are at high risk of fractures can give priority to drugs that promote bone formation. To quickly increase bone density and reduce the risk of fractures.
Ms. Sun Cuifeng, chief executive of the Taiwan Ming Huayuan Drama Troupe, is a family member of an osteoporosis patient and has long served as a public welfare spokesperson and goodwill ambassador for osteoporosis prevention and treatment. She said that her mother-in-law often suffered from multiple pains all over her body in her later years. At that time, she could only go to the clinic for pain-relieving injections. In the end, she needed two injections every day to barely maintain a normal life. Finally, she was diagnosed with osteoporosis after a check-up at a major hospital.
Ms. Sun Cuifeng believes that early detection and proper treatment can relieve her mother-in-law’s discomfort in her later years. To avoid such regrets from happening again, the Osteoporosis Society of Taiwan urges that osteoporosis has no obvious symptoms, so you should be more careful about yourself. Pay attention to your family, detect early and treat aggressively. As Mother’s Day is approaching, people are reminded to pay more attention to their own health and the health of their elders.
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