9M Pinoys suffer from osteoporosis

At least 9 million Filipinos are suffering from osteoporosis at present, this according to a health expert.

Dr. Jeanne Flordeliz of the Rehabilitation Medicine of the Cebu Doctors Hospital in Mactan said that people who are underweight or with small body frame are at greater risk of this often called "silent disease" because bone loss occurs without symptoms.

Flordeliz said that people with small frame especially those weighing below 120 pounds are most prone to osteoporosis.

People may not know that they have osteoporosis until their bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump, or fall causes a bone to fracture or a vertebra to collapse, she added.

However, she explained that there may be a chronic, dull pain particularly in the lower back or neck, which may become sharp later in the course of the disease.

Flordeliz said it is estimated that osteoporosis is six to eight times more common in women than in men, partly because women have less bone mass to begin with.

Furthermore, for several years after menopause, women also lose bone more rapidly than men do due to a fall in the production of estrogen. Smokers and alcohol drinkers are also prone to the disease.

The risk of osteoporosis rises with increasing age in both men and women.

Getting less than the recommended dietary allowance of calcium puts one at risk. Adolescent boys and girls should consume 1300 mg of calcium daily. People from 19 years of age until menopause, or age 50 for men, should take at least 1000 mg daily. For post-menopausal women and men over the age of 50, the RDA is 1200 mg daily.

Regular exercise and taking the right amount of calcium should be part of the treatment of osteoporosis. Exercise can reduce the likelihood of bone fractures associated with osteoporosis, and help retain and even gain bone density.

The prevention of osteoporosis is a lifetime process. Most bone mass is developed before the age of 30. Thereafter, the challenge is to retain the bone mass one has. Efforts to assure the development of adequate bone mass, in children and adolescents, should begin with the consumption of calcium-rich and vitamin D-rich diets, as well as frequent weight-bearing exercise.

In mid-life, continued consumption of calcium and vitamin D and physical activity are important. A healthy lifestyle without smoking or excessive alcohol is helpful. If necessary, calcium supplements should be considered. - Jasmin R. Uy