At What Age can Women have Osteoporosis
By: Tsou JinyeuTotal Views: 258, Word Count: 543,
Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become porous. It is a condition in which the bones become fragile and tend to get fractured. Although this disease affects all the bones in the body, hip, spine and wrist bones are the ones that are usually affected. It is well known that women are more prone to this disease than men. So one may want to know that at what age can women have osteoporosis
.Osteoporosis is also acknowledged as a “silent disease”. There is no definite age for its occurrence. It starts developing as the body starts losing calcium and can be understood only after a fracture occurs. It has been found that at an average, a woman loses almost one-third of her bone density between the age of 20 and 80.
Osteoporosis may start developing in childhood or at adolescence. This is the period when the body does most of the bone building. At the age of 18, a woman reaches her peak bone mass, whereas the age is 20 in case of a man. At the age of 30, the body starts replacing old bone cells, but there is no increase in bone mass.
According to the research conducted by some institutes, women are at a higher risk of osteoporosis than men in the following statistical ways
· Among 44 million people at risk for this disease, 68% are women
· Among people suffering from hip osteoporosis, 75% are women
· Fractures are common with every one out of two women whose age is over 50 years.
Risk Factors for Osteoporosis in Women
The risk for osteoporosis increases if a woman belongs to any of these criteria:
· Fair skin (Asian or white women)
· Family history of osteoporosis
· Early menopause (before the age of 45)
· Removal of ovaries through surgery before menopause
· Irregular exercise or no exercise at all
· Deficiency of calcium
· Addicted to alcohol, tobacco, or smoking
· Under weight or very thin body
· Hyperthyroidism
Estrogen and Women
Estrogen is a hormone that helps in regulating the reproductive cycle in women. It also helps in keeping the bones strong and healthy in women as well as in men. The level of estrogen in women is quite high before menopause, but the level drops drastically after menopause. This is the time when women become more inclined towards osteoporosis.
Medications for Osteoporosis
A large number of drugs such as calcitonin, alendronate, risedronate, ibandronate, raloxifene and teriparatide are used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
This disease can also be treated in a natural way by performing regular exercises, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and having a balanced diet.
It is necessary to take some precautions as you age. The first and most important thing is to get your bones tested at regular intervals. Consult your doctor if you are having swelling or pain in your body. Few precautions can help a lot in preventing osteoporosis.
At what age can women have osteoporosis? Although there is no particular age for a woman to have this disease, the roots of osteoporosis start growing from the age of 20. So if you are a woman, be careful and use preventive measures as discussed above.
About the Author
Dr Tsou Jinyeu is a well known gynecologist and has been in this field since 1995. His special interests are – genetic and birth defects, high risk obstetrics, lupus in pregnancy, premature labour, premature delivery, triplets and ultrasound diagnosis. He is graduated from the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine. Nowdays he is working as a medical doctor at Elmhurst Loyola Center for Health.
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