Osteoporosis (cont.)
What are the consequences of osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis bone fractures are responsible for considerable pain, decreased
quality of life, lost workdays, and disability. Up to 30% of patients suffering
a hip fracture will require long term nursing home care.
Elderly patients can further develop pneumonia and blood clots in the leg veins
that can travel to the lungs (pulmonary embolism) due to prolonged bed rest
after a hip fracture.
Some 20% of women with a hip fracture will die in the subsequent year as an
indirect result of the fracture. In addition, once a person has experienced a
spine fracture due to osteoporosis, he or she is at very high risk of suffering
another such fracture in the near future (next few years). About 20% of
postmenopausal women who experience a vertebral fracture will suffer a new
vertebral fracture of bone in the following year.
Why is osteoporosis an important public health issue?
- In the United States, 44 million people have low bone density (either
osteoporosis or osteopenia, see below). This amounts to 55% of the U.S.
population 50 years-old and over.
- In the U.S., more than 10 million people have
osteoporosis and almost 34 million more have low bone density.
- One in two white
women will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis in her lifetime.
- In the United States, direct health care costs from osteoporosis fractures amount to billion dollars, without even taking into
account the indirect costs, such as lost work productivity.
- Twenty percent of those who experience a hip fracture will die in
the year following the fracture.
- One-third of hip fracture patients are discharged to a
nursing home within the year after fracture.
- Only one-third of hip
fracture patients regain their pre-fracture level of function.
With the aging of
America, the number of people with osteoporosis related fractures will increase
exponentially. The pain, suffering, and economic costs will be enormous.
Next: What factors determine bone strength? »
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