Osteoporosis : in silence, it kills more women than the road

Jens Meyer/AP/SIPA

Published the 18.10.2017 at 08: 00

A A

Among the many silent diseases, one of the most insidious is called osteoporosis. Bone is a living material, with a complex architecture, such as a roof structure, and whose strength is the result of a balance between two types of cells : some of which strengthen and others that eliminate the dead parts, and therefore is vulnerable. And if there are too many cells that clean, we found ourselves in front of a osteoporosis.

This is definitely a family disease, but we should not neglect the influence of the sex hormones, but also a diet rich in calcium and an active lifestyle. The skeleton is a kind of bank bone, and we all live on credit from a certain age, women more than men. And the bank bone closes its doors at the age of 30 years : the nest egg for the future, that is to say, the quantity and quality of bone, are defined at this age. After, the body was much more difficult to store items which will ensure the sustainability of the strength of our skeleton.

Fracture of fragility or fracture, traumatic

That said bones fragile, said fractures more frequently : every year 376 000 fractures are due to osteoporosis and the aging of the population, we expect more than 500 000 in 2025 ! The annual number of deaths after a fracture related to osteoporosis is, in France, the number of people killed by road accident…

All bones can be affected except those of the head, neck, hands and feet. The bones most affected by osteoporosis are the wrist, spine, and most feared, of the neck of the femur, as the latter is synonymous with 20 % mortality at 1 year.

Even if 10 % of men may suffer from this disease, osteoporosis reaches 30 to 40 % of women at menopause and for more than half of those over 75 years of age. In fact, the decrease in the secretion of female hormones results in an acceleration of bone loss of about 30 % in the 10 years following the menopause, when even 3 to 4 kg of bones !

The occurrence of a fracture in a serene sky

There are no signs that can alert prior to the osteoporotic fracture. Also to know the state of the os, it is necessary to pass a examination painless : the bone density test. This review evaluates the density of the bone, as it does not fully reflect the strength of the bone because, beside the weight of the bone, there is also the way in which it is built : its architecture. It can be evaluated in the scanner, and especially at the micro-scanner, which makes very fine cuts and gives an idea of the architecture of the bone. A 3rd parameter plays in bone strength, bone quality, that is to say, the composition of the bone architecture in protein and bone crystal). This last dimension cannot be evaluated in the bone biopsy, the latter being carried out only in case of illness.

The individual risk

The current knowledge allows to treat these fractures as avoidable complications through treatment. So far, it is not necessary to do a routine screening in all women after menopause, but it is necessary to focus prevention efforts on at-risk women. There are scores of fracture risk in osteoporotic that are available on different sites, including that of the Aflar. It is important to realize after menopause to see if it is necessary to move a bone densitometry test and initiate a treatment.
 

Of effective treatment and short-term

While reducing by half the risk of fracture in only 3 to 5 years, treatment with anti-osteoporotic current are poorly perceived by women : in recent years, very rare side effects (osteonecrosis of jaw and atypical fractures) have been put forward by some of the sites scare. Yet the benefit antifracturaire of these treatments very far exceeds the very rare side effects. It is a certainty acquired over several million women treated. It is up to your physician to choose among the therapeutic one that suits, knowing that new treatments are announced.

The Aflar (French Association of fight antirhumatismale) gives very comprehensive information on osteoporosis :

www.tout-sur-osteoporose.fr

Or

Hello osteoporosis at 0 810 43 03 43.