OSTEOPOROSIS

A DEBILITATING DISEASE THAT CAN BE TREATED AND PREVENTED Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break.  If not prevented or if left untreated osteoporosis can progress painlessly until a bone breaks.  These broken bones, also known as fractures, occur typically in the wrist, spine or hip.  Any bone can be affected but of special concern are the spine or hip.  A hip fracture almost always requires hospitalization and major surgery.  It can impair a persons abitlty to walk unassisted and may cause prolonged or permanant disabilty or even death.  Spinal or vertebral fracture also have serious consequences, inculding loss of height, servere back pain and deformity. While women are four times more likely than men to have osteoporosis, men also suffer from this disease.. Osteoporosis is largely preventable for most people.  Prevention of this disease is very important because while there are treatments, there is currently no cure. There are five steps to help prevent osteoporosis, no one step alone is enough to prevent osteoporisis, but all five may.      - A balanced diet rich in calcium and Vitamin D      - Weight bearing exercise      - A healthy non-smoking lifestyle      - A BONE DENSITY TEST      - And medication when necessary A BONE DENSITY TEST measures the density of your bones (bone mass) and is necessary to determine wether you need medication to help maintain your bone mass, prevent future bone loss and reduce fracture risk.  A bone density test is a special type of test that is accurate, painless and non-invasive. THIS TEST CONSISTS OF A FIVE MINUTE ULTRASOUND EXAM WHICH MEASURES THE BONE DENSITY OF YOUR HEEL.

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