|
| Osteoporosis (porous bone) |
|
The Osteoporosis Institute of Northwest Indiana offers a comprehensive program for women and men to identify and manage osteoporosis. We believe that effective treatment for patients with osteoporosis involves a variety of interventions and requires a significant investment of time to meet the needs of our patients. The major elements of our program include diagnosis, education, treatment, nutritional counseling and physical therapy. Background This can be a very crippling disease process. Approximately 10 million people have osteoporosis, and 18 million people have low bone mass, which makes them at risk for osteoporosis. Women make up 80% of the cases, but men can also be affected especially since 2 million men have the disease. Warning signs There are no early warning signs. The diagnosis is usually made after a patient falls and fractures a bone or has a spontaneous fracture. Hip fractures make up approximately 300,000 of these fractures. These patients may have a permanent disability or loss of independence, or they may even have a higher chance of death in the first year after the fracture. Early diagnosis and prevention are the best options to the patient. How does it happen? Bone is the key. It is a dynamic tissue. Old bone is lost, and new bone is replaced at equal rates until age 30. After 30, old bone is lost faster than new bone is made which creates a negative balance. Then, with certain medications, estrogen deficiency or menopause (women), testosterone deficiency (men), diet changes or absorption problems, decrease in physical activity, bone loss is significantly accelerated. Who are at risk? Some are at more risk than others:
However, some risk factors can be changed:
Diagnosis and treatment before fractures occur A Dexa scanner is used to deliver a small amount of X-ray to the hip and spine so the density of the bone is measured. This process is quick and painless. If the diagnosis is made, we approach the treatment aggressively using a multidisciplinary approach. It involves dietary food alterations, nutritional supplements, medication, activity changes, and physical therapy to treat osteoporosis. Our goals... ...are to increase bone mass or slow down the severe bone loss in order to ultimately prevent fractures, which can be debilitating. We feel this approach greatly contributes to our patients' independence. In order to definitely approach this disease process, we have developed the Osteoporosis Institute in Northwest Indiana, the first of its kind. |
