Wh

at a

re a

vaila

ble

trea

tmen

tsfo

r o

steo

po

rosi

s?A

t o

ne

tim

e ve

ry l

ittl

e co

uld

be

do

ne

for

a p

atie

nt

suffe

ring

fro

m o

steo

poro

sis.

Tod

ay,

ther

e ar

e se

vera

lef

fect

ive

trea

tmen

ts. T

hes

e ca

n in

clud

e an

yth

ing

from

sim

ple

lifes

tyle

and

nut

ritio

nal

chan

ges

to p

resc

ribe

dm

edic

atio

ns.

A ne

w b

reed

of

spec

ially

for

mul

ated

med

icat

ions

suc

has

Ale

ndro

nate

, Ral

oxife

ne a

nd E

tidro

nate

hav

e pr

oven

to b

e ef

fect

ive

in t

reat

ing

oste

opor

osis

, of

feri

ng h

ope

even

to th

ose

diag

nose

d w

ith s

ever

e co

nditi

ons.

Mos

t im

port

antly

, ost

eopo

rosi

s ca

n be

pre

vent

ed w

ithea

rly

dete

ctio

n.

Life

styl

e re

com

men

dat

ion

sD

epen

ding

on

your

tes

t re

sults

, yo

ur p

hys

icia

n m

ayp

resc

rib

e m

edic

atio

n a

nd

/or

reco

mm

end

lif

esty

lech

ange

s.Yo

ur d

octo

r m

ay s

ugge

st t

hat

you

:

Eat

a he

alth

y, b

alan

ced,

cal

cium

-ric

h di

et.

Avoi

d sm

okin

g.

Avoi

d dr

inki

ng la

rge

amou

nts

of a

lcoh

ol.

Add

ph

ysic

al a

ctiv

ity t

o yo

ur d

aily

rou

tine.

Hav

e a

rout

ine

bone

str

engt

h t

est.

Alw

ays

cons

ult

with

you

r do

ctor

pri

or t

o m

akin

g an

ylif

esty

le c

hang

es.

Will

th

e te

st b

e co

vere

d b

y m

y in

sura

nce

?To

day,

man

y in

sura

nce

com

pani

es, a

s w

ell a

s M

edic

are,

cove

r bo

ne s

tren

gth

test

ing

whe

n it

is d

eem

ed m

edic

ally

nece

ssar

y. D

epen

ding

on

your

ins

uran

ce c

ompa

nyan

d its

pol

icy,

the

tes

t m

ay b

e fu

lly c

over

ed. Y

ou m

ayal

so h

ave

the

optio

n of

bei

ng t

este

d fo

r a

min

imal

fee,

rega

rdle

ss o

f m

edic

al in

dica

tions

. Ask

you

r do

ctor

for

mor

e in

form

atio

n.

For

mo

re i

nfo

rmat

ion

Wh

ere

can

I ge

t m

ore

info

rmat

ion

on o

steo

poro

sis,

its r

isks

and

con

sequ

ence

s?

Th

e N

atio

nal O

steo

poro

sis

Foun

datio

n12

32 2

2ndSt

reet

N.W

.W

ash

ingt

on, D

.C. 2

0037

-129

2w

ww

.nof

.org

Bro

ugh

t to

you

by

Wa

lla

ch S

urg

ica

l D

evic

es1-

800-

243-

2463

Ask

your

doct

or a

bout

bein

g te

sted

for

Ost

eopo

rosis

toda

y.As

k yo

ur d

octo

rab

out b

eing

te

sted

here

.

Wh

at i

s O

steo

po

rosi

s?O

steo

poro

sis,

als

o ca

lled

the

sile

nt e

pide

mic

, is

a di

seas

e

that

affe

cts

the

entir

e sk

elet

on. I

t ca

uses

thi

nnin

g an

d

wea

keni

ng o

f the

bon

es, o

ften

to

the

poin

t of

frac

ture

.

Such

frac

ture

s us

ually

occ

ur a

t th

e w

rist

, hip

, or

spin

e.

At t

imes

a p

erso

n m

ay n

ot b

e aw

are

of t

he d

isea

se

beca

use

bone

loss

is g

radu

al a

nd w

ithou

t sy

mpt

oms.

Bon

e is

con

stan

tly c

han

ging

- o

ld b

one

is r

esor

bed

and

new

bon

e ta

kes

its p

lace

. O

steo

poro

sis

occu

rs

wh

en t

he

rate

of

bone

res

orpt

ion

exce

eds

the

rate

of

bone

rep

lace

men

t. As

a r

esul

t, bo

ne s

tren

gth

decr

ease

s,

mak

ing

bone

s m

ore

frag

ile a

nd s

usce

ptib

le to

frac

ture

.

Shou

ld I

be

con

cern

ed a

bou

tos

teop

oros

is?

Ost

eopo

rosi

s is

far

mor

e co

mm

on t

han

mos

t pe

ople

real

ize.

In fa

ct, m

ore

wom

en w

ill d

evel

op o

steo

poro

sis

than

bre

ast,

uter

ine

and

ovar

ian

canc

ers

com

bine

d.

Furt

her

mor

e, o

ne o

ut o

f ev

ery

two

wom

en a

nd o

ne

out o

f eve

ry e

igh

t men

ove

r th

e ag

e of

50

will

suf

fer

an

oste

opor

otic

fr

actu

re

over

th

eir

lifet

imes

. In

th

e

Uni

ted

Stat

es a

lone

ove

r 10

mill

ion

Amer

ican

s cu

rren

tly

suffe

r fr

om o

steo

poro

sis

and

18 m

illio

n m

ore

are

at

risk

. And

th

ese

num

bers

are

onl

y ex

pect

ed t

o ri

se.

Ho

w c

an o

steo

po

rosi

s af

fect

m

y lif

e?W

hen

mos

t of u

s th

ink

of o

steo

poro

sis

we

tend

to th

ink

of t

he “

little

old

lad

y” w

ith s

toop

ed s

houl

ders

, bu

t in

fact

bon

e lo

ss c

an b

egin

in w

omen

as

earl

y as

age

25.

Ost

eopo

rosi

s affe

cts e

ach

pers

on d

iffer

ently

and

to v

aryi

ng

degr

ees.

Man

y of

thos

e di

agno

sed

with

ost

eopo

rosi

s

cont

inue

to le

ad fu

ll an

d co

mpl

ete

lives

. But

, for

oth

ers,

sim

ple

ever

yday

act

iviti

es li

ke w

alki

ng a

nd li

ftin

g lig

ht

pack

ages

can

bec

ome

diffi

cult

and

pain

ful.

Ost

eopo

rosi

s ca

n si

gnifi

cant

ly im

pact

a p

erso

n’s

abili

ty

to r

emai

n in

depe

nden

t, w

ith u

p to

25

perc

ent

of h

ip

frac

ture

pat

ient

s re

quir

ing

long

-ter

m c

are

in a

nur

sing

hom

e fa

cilit

y.

Fort

unat

ely,

w

ith

earl

y w

arni

ng

and

prop

er tr

eatm

ent,

the

debi

litat

ing

effe

cts

of o

steo

poro

sis

can

ofte

n be

pre

vent

ed.

Ris

k fa

cto

rs o

f o

steo

po

rosi

sAs

k yo

urs

elf

the

follo

win

g:

Do

you

have

a fa

mily

his

tory

of

oste

opor

osis

, h

ip f

ract

ures

in

old

age

and/

or d

owag

er’s

hum

p?

Hav

e yo

u ev

er b

roke

n a

bone

aft

er a

min

or b

ump

or fa

ll?

Do

you

smok

e?

Do

you

cons

ume

larg

e am

ount

s

of a

lcoh

ol?

Hav

e yo

u re

quir

ed p

rolo

nged

use

(ove

r 6

mon

ths)

of m

edic

atio

ns

such

as

antic

onvu

lsan

ts o

r

cort

icos

tero

ids?

For

Wo

men

:

Did

you

und

ergo

men

opau

se b

efor

e th

e

age

of 4

5?

Hav

e yo

ur p

erio

ds e

ver

stop

ped

for

12 m

onth

s

or m

ore

(oth

er t

han

beca

use

of p

regn

ancy

)?

For

Men

:

Hav

e yo

u ev

er s

uffe

red

from

impo

tenc

e, la

ck o

f lib

ido

or o

ther

sym

ptom

s re

late

d to

low

test

oste

rone

leve

ls?

Any

‘yes

’ an

swer

may

in

dic

ate

an i

ncr

ease

d r

isk

for

oste

opor

osis

an

d s

hou

ld b

e d

iscu

ssed

wit

h yo

ur

phys

icia

n.

Wh

y sh

ou

ld I

be

test

ed?

Ost

eopo

rosi

s is

con

side

red

a si

lent

dis

ease

. B

ut i

t is

only

sile

nt u

ntil

a fr

actu

re o

ccur

s.

Star

ting

at a

roun

d th

e ag

e of

35,

bon

e go

es t

hrou

gh a

natu

ral p

roce

ss o

f det

erio

ratio

n, m

ainl

y du

e to

age

and

,

in w

omen

, men

opau

se. B

ut th

e ac

hes

and

pain

s as

soci

-

ated

with

this

pro

cess

may

not

nec

essa

rily

be

so s

impl

e.

For e

xam

ple,

a p

erso

n m

ay a

ttri

bute

bac

k pa

in to

nor

mal

agin

g or

str

ess

whe

n it

is a

ctua

lly c

ause

d by

a b

roke

n

vert

ebra

e. In

deed

, onl

y on

e th

ird

of p

atie

nts

suffe

ring

fro

m a

fra

ctur

ed v

erte

brae

seek

med

ical

hel

p.

A b

one

stre

ngth

tes

t

can

help

est

ablis

h th

e

diag

nosi

s of

ost

eopo

rosi

s

and

may

pre

vent

an

initi

al

frac

ture

. Tes

ting

also

hel

ps t

o

dete

rmin

e th

e se

veri

ty o

f th

e

dise

ase,

pre

dict

the

ris

k of

subs

eque

nt

frac

ture

s,

and

mon

itor

bone

cha

nges

.

Ho

w f

ast

can

I b

e te

sted

?A

n O

mni

sens

e te

st p

rovi

des

an e

valu

atio

n of

you

r

bone

str

engt

h.

It i

s qu

ick,

con

veni

ent,

non-

inva

sive

and

radi

atio

n-fr

ee.

Th

e te

stin

g pr

oced

ure

take

s le

ss

than

5 m

inut

es a

nd t

he

resu

lts a

re im

med

iate

.