by
SCIENTIFIC WRITING and CAREERS-
October 16, 2013
Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disorder that weakens the bones significantly. Osteoporosis affects every race, gender, and background. There are many new methods that have been introduced that aid in the prevention of osteoporosis. Some preventative measures include a healthy diet, exercise, and certain vitamins and medicines. Organizations have been created to help educate people on the disorder and increase the chances of prevention.
Introduction Osteoporosis is Latin, meaning holes or pores in the bones. It is a skeletal disease that causes a decrease in bone mass, the deterioration of bone, and increases the chances of a fracture. There are many causes of osteoporosis but most people with the disease tend to have low bone mineral density (BMD) and, in women, low estrogen levels. Osteoporosis has been thought to have genetic links as well. Secondary osteoporosis is common in people that have nutritional deficiencies or that have had certain endocrine disorders such as, hyperparathyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Osteoporosis can be diagnosed through evaluating the symptoms or a bone mineral density examination (Richards et al. 2008). Symptoms are not usually detectable in the beginning of osteoporosis; the reason it is not diagnosed until it has reached the later stages. Some symptoms include low back pain, fractures obtained without significant force, and kyphosis (hunching of the back) (BIOS2 medical). Osteoporosis is one of the most common diseases in the world. “More than 10 million people in the US have osteoporosis and an additional 30 million are diagnosed with osteopenia, its precursor” (Quintero et al. 2011). It is estimated that 8 million of these are women, and 2 million are men. Many physicians have under diagnosed osteoporosis because it is not as common in males. It is never too late to begin the prevention of osteoporosis. Bone mass is greatest near the age of twenty but it begins to lose its mass when the age of thirty is reached and can continue this loss until the age of eighty. Osteoporosis will be discussed in terms of the preventative measures that are being taken to help suppress or completely avert the disease. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the effect that a healthy diet, exercise, and medicines have on the prevention of osteoporosis.
Method
Sources were found using the ProQuest database. The Evangel website, www.evangel.edu, led to the library homepage where the database could be accessed. The words, “Osteoporosis” and “Prevention of Osteoporosis” were used when searching the database. The date was specified to be after, Jan 1, 2008. ‘Scholarly Journals’ were selected to guarantee the