Oak Hill Hospital Alerts the Community to the Risks of Fracture Due to Osteoporosis
May 16, 2012
Spring Hill, FL – Oak Hill Hospital offers the following advice during National Osteoporosis Awareness & Prevention Month. While May brings Mother’s Day it also is National Osteoporosis Awareness & Prevention Month, a time when it is important to recognize the risks for osteoporosis, a bone-breaking disease that particularly affects women. Of the 10 million Americans with this disease, 80 percent are women.
Research suggests that heredity and genetics play a major role in osteoporosis and broken bones. If your Mother, or either of your parents, had osteoporosis, you are at a higher risk.
According to the Florida Department of Health website, osteoporosis is a debilitating disease that often has no symptoms until a fracture occurs.
The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that one in two women and one in four men over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.
Risk factors for osteoporosis include:
- Being a woman,
- Age (risk increases with age),
- Low weight,
- Smoking and/or alcohol abuse,
- A history of falls and certain medical conditions including rheumatoid arthritis,
- Cardiovascular disease,
- Other diseases such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, liver disease, eating disorders, depression and Crohn’s disease.
Medications can also contribute to risk including antidepressants, warfarin (Coumadin), long-term heparin, corticosteroids, thyroid medicine, anticonvulsants and antacids. Low levels of the hormone estrogen in women and testosterone in men and an inactive lifestyle can also contribute to risk.
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