So about this series of blog articles I am going to write everyday will be on Women's Health (of all ages). Before al my male readers turn away let me tell you some of the things I unravel to you is applicable to today's man too. If you are close to any female kind and I hardly doubt if you're not then this series is for you.
Osteoporosis has long been considered as a bone disorder of the elderly. Frankly not everyone knows what it factually is. All they can tell you is something to do with the bone and perhaps as far as a fracture in women. Well people guess what times have changed and we are solely responsible for it. In 2005 my mother was experiencing excruciating pain in one of her hip joint, she just neglected for a while thinking it was fatigue. It got to a point where she couldn't sit down or bend to pick things up from the floor. Needless to say she almost faced immobility, as I clearly recall that day when I came home from my health club to find my Mom struggling to get up from the bed. She then (somehow) got an MRI, Bone Density test, Serum calcium, Vit D, hormonal tests done. We found she wasn't osteoporotic, yet. She was osteopenic, which only meant that it will be sometime soon when she would be categorically under OSTEOPOROTIC status. That day when she found out she knew what I meant when I told her deliberatly deafened ears to start working out and stop comfort food as an excuse to feeling exhausted. In one year's time she not only lost 30 Lbs of dead weight but reversed her bone deterioration, of course with diet and apt exercise module along with Vit D supplementation. You have to really coax her today to give up one day of workout. So the question still remains what is it that we do to end up being susceptible to osteoporosis and that apart why do medical sciences tag it a 'SILENT KILLER'? I can understand your dilemma coupled with curiosity, but osteoporosis does more harm to our body than just bone frailty. This is what I will write about in this series.
To understand the pathophysiology (its effects) of osteoporosis we need to understand what is our bone structure made of. Simply it is nothing but a meshwork of protein molecules which have mineral fixations into it making it look like a wholesome sturdy structure. Protein forms the major support for the actual bone, while minerals like calcium, phosphorous, give it its sturdy tough body. Without the adequate mineral deposition in the protein meshwork the bone is just a croche of protein with big holes in it. Remember how you grow taller upto certain age and then just stop growing no matter how tall you want to be? Thats called growth of the epiphysis simply explained when we're young as in really small babies our bones aren't completely formed to what they are now. There are spaces between the firm bone structure that awaits development so we grow taller into adulthood. This process takes place along with the growth hormone by constant mineral deposition in the protein structure of the bone. At some point the growth hormone release is inhibited and the bone growth eventually stops. Our bones go through a process called as absorption and this continues upto the age of 35. After 35 however bones go through a turnover process i.e. absorption and resorption. The bone turnover determines the actual net bone density, which only translates into whether your bone is absorbing more calcium or giving away more calcium. This turnover is initiated by the overall process called ageing. Secondary to natural stimulus for bone resorption are factors that accelerate bone calcium resorption like obesity (too much weight on the ones), calcium defeciency(not enough calcium in the blood), Vit D defeciency, thyroid hormone abnormality, malnutrition overall, oestrogen imbalance. if you manage to do all the above mentioned activities you'll be succesfull in depleting your bones from calcium thus inviting with warm arms a permanent guest called OSTEOPOROSIS to your humble body. What osteoporosis will do after it starts developing is frailty in your physical self. Frailty leads to accidents, or immobilisation like in the case of my mom. Frailty of the bones also means your nervous plexi which were protected by adequate bone space is now facing muscular pressure as the body structure is weak and cannot hold major muscles in their original way. If the nerves are pressed there is neural damage symptomatic as dysfuntional part of the body the nerves are supplying brain impulses to. Now you can multiply all this into why this silent unwanted guest is a killer, a silent killer. Watch out for more on this topic as I unravel more about Osteoporosis and general health.
