In the past two days, many places have received snowfall. While the heavy snow brings beautiful scenery, it also brings a series of dangers - the road after snow is slippery, and you may fall if you are not careful. Some people may stand up and be fine, but some people, especially the elderly, may fall and break their bones. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, on December 11, the proportion of patients admitted to Beijing Jishuitan Hospital for injuries caused by falls after snow increased significantly. As of 17:00,A total of 116 patients with fall injuries were treated in the three hospital districts..

Image source: A short video platform

Not only after falling, some people may also suffer sudden fractures after sneezing, coughing violently, or lifting heavy objects. These mysterious-sounding conditions are not uncommon in clinical practice, and the cause of these conditions is likely to be osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis, the “silent killer”

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease. It is a systemic bone disease characterized by low bone mass and damage to the microstructure of bone tissue, resulting in increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures.

Osteoporosis has three “typical symptoms”:

low back pain. Many people may mistakenly think that it is lumbar muscle strain, intervertebral disc herniation and other problems.

Height becomes shorter.Many elders become hunched over and stooped as they age, indicating that they have osteoporosis.

Fragility fracture.Fragility fractures can be directly diagnosed as osteoporosis.

However, not all osteoporosis patients will have these symptoms. Many osteoporosis patients have no obvious feelings in the early stages of the disease. It is for this reason that osteoporosis is also called the "silent killer" by doctors——

Because if you fall when you have osteoporosis, it can easily lead to fractures. The common parts of fractures are mainly the hip joint, spine, wrist, etc., with hip fractures being the most serious.

According to surveys, about 200,000 middle-aged and elderly people in my country suffer from hip fractures due to osteoporosis every year. Among them, 33% of patients with hip fractures are completely dependent on caregivers or live in nursing homes within the next year. Their quality of life is greatly reduced, and 20% to 24% of patients die as a result.

In our country,Falls are the leading cause of injury and death among people over 65 years old.

Although osteoporosis is the most common bone disease among middle-aged and elderly people, this does not mean that only middle-aged and elderly people have osteoporosis. In fact, young people are becoming a high-risk group for osteoporosis due to bad living habits and other problems.

Lack of exercise, unreasonable dietary structure in life, picky eaters or excessive dieting, frequent smoking, drinking... these may cause "osteoporosis at a young age".

It is important to note that women are more susceptible to osteoporosis than men, especially older and underweight women.

After menopause, women's hormone secretion decreases sharply, which accelerates bone loss. The prevalence rate among women over 50 years old is 32.1%, and the prevalence rate among women over 65 years old is as high as 51.6%.

How to prevent osteoporosis

Regarding osteoporosis, the first thing we need to understand is that osteoporosis can be prevented and cured. In addition, it is also necessary to realize that the prevention of osteoporosis applies to all age groups. Don't wait until you are old to "just improvise". You must develop good eating and living habits from an early age.

1. Increase the intake of calcium and appropriate protein in the diet and adopt a low-salt diet.

2. Stay away from tobacco and alcohol, and drink less strong tea, coffee and carbonated drinks.

3. Moderate exercise

Muscle activity stimulates bone tissue, making bones stronger. Exercise can also help enhance the body's responsiveness, improve balance function, and reduce the risk of falls.

4. Get more sun

The vitamin D contained in the Chinese diet is very limited, and a large amount of vitamin D3 needs to be synthesized by the skin after being exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Regular exposure to sunlight plays a key role in the production of vitamin D and calcium absorption. On average, normal people get at least 20 minutes of sunshine every day.

Tip: Sunscreen and parasols can also increase the risk of osteoporosis in women.

5. Supplement calcium tablets and vitamin D

Self-testing for people at high risk of osteoporosis

If you are not sure whether you are a high-risk group for osteoporosis, you can try to answer the following 10 questions. If you answer "yes" to any of them, you need to be more vigilant:

1. Have you ever injured your bones due to a minor collision or fall?

2. Have you taken hormonal drugs for more than 3 consecutive months?

3. Is your height three centimeters lower than when you were younger?

4. Do you often drink excessively? (drink twice a day, or only 1-2 days a week without drinking)

5. Do you smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day?

6. Do you often have diarrhea? (Caused by celiac disease or enteritis)

7. Have your parents ever suffered a hip fracture due to a minor collision or fall?

8.Female answer: Did you go through menopause before the age of 45?

9. Have you ever had no period for more than 12 consecutive months (except during pregnancy)?

10. Man’s answer: Do you suffer from impotence or lack of sexual desire?

For postmenopausal women, you can also use the following formula to make a simple judgment.

However, this Osteoporosis Self-Screening Tool for Asians (OSTA) is based on a study of postmenopausal women in 8 Asian countries and regions. The sample size is not very large, and it needs to be judged in conjunction with other risk factors.

OSTA index = (weight/k-age/year) x0.2

Image source: Hebei Disease Control and Prevention

Some common misunderstandings about osteoporosis

1. Can drinking bone soup prevent osteoporosis?

Experiments have shown that the calcium content in the same bowl of milk is much higher than that of a bowl of bone broth. For the elderly, bone broth dissolves a large amount of fat in the bones, and regular consumption may cause other health problems. Pay attention to a diversified diet, eat less greasy food, insist on drinking milk, and avoid excessive intake of protein and caffeine.

2. To treat osteoporosis, is calcium supplementation?

Simply put, osteoporosis is caused by abnormalities in bone metabolism (the influence of osteoclasts in the human body is greater than that of osteoblasts, and the rate of bone resorption exceeds the rate of bone formation).

Therefore, the treatment of osteoporosis is not simply calcium supplementation, but comprehensive treatment to increase bone mass, enhance bone strength and prevent fractures. Patients should go to regular hospitals for diagnosis and treatment.

3. Should patients with osteoporosis not exercise?

Maintaining normal bone density and strength requires constant exercise stimulation. Lack of exercise will cause bone loss. Physical exercise has a positive effect on preventing osteoporosis.

In addition, if you do not pay attention to physical exercise, osteoporosis will occur, muscle strength will also decrease, and the stimulation of bones will be further reduced.

This will not only accelerate the development of osteoporosis, but also affect the flexibility of the joints, making it easy to fall and cause fractures.

References

[1]http://www.nhc.gov.cn/wjw/jbyfykz/201304/2fb324d3cc0947bc9b7cf9b84fc5c851.shtml

Planning and production

This article is a work of Popular Science China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Galaxy Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author丨Uncle Panda, popular science creator

Review丨Tang Qin, Chief Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association

Planning|Yang Yaping