Osteoporosis Changes
There are many changes that occur in the body of someone that has osteoporosis. This can be a very devastating disease, and unless the necessary preventative steps are taken, you may have to suffer with the complications that come with it. The goal here is not to scare people, but to make them aware of osteoporosis and how it affects the people that have to live with it. Osteoporosis is said to decrease the quality of life of those that have it significantly, and in many cases it could have been prevented. During the process of getting this disease and after, people will notice that things that they used to be able to do easily become more and more difficult by the day. Extra precautions need to be taken in every single aspect of their lives if they do not want to risk fracturing or breaking a bone. Here are some of the physical changes that come along with osteoporosis that make it more difficult for sufferers to perform the activities that they once did with ease.
1. Osteoblasts – These are the cells that are responsible for bone formation. Having osteoporosis will decrease the functionality of osteoblasts, which will then cause irregularities within the bones. The reason why age is a major cause of osteoporosis is because as people get older, the amount of osteoblasts in their bodies decrease.
2. Bone formation – After the osteoblasts are either decreased or have lost some of their functionality due to osteoporosis, the bones are not able to reform in the ways necessary to adapt to the body. Bones are dynamic, they change shape and reform constantly. Our entire bodies change from when we are young and until we are old, and our bones, with the help of osteoblasts, change to fit with our bodies. If the bones can no longer reshape, we are stuck with bones that may be forced to bend in unnatural ways, causing pain and possible fracture.
3. Bone density – Another effect that osteoporosis has on the bones is that the bone mineral density is decreased by a large amount. This makes the bones thinner and more fragile. If that is mixed with the fact that they are no longer dynamic, fractures become very likely. Because of these effects on the bones, inability to balance oneself becomes a problem, and the chances of falling also increase. Even the slightest fall can fracture a bone, with the wrist, hip, and lower spine being the bones that are most frequently affected. These are the areas that take the brunt of each fall. The wrist is fractured when people used their hands to try to break a fall, and if people fall on their side or back, a hip or the lower spine may be fractured.
There are many changes that osteoporosis causes, and these are just a few of the physical ones. There are dietary, mental, and lifestyle changes that come with this disease as well.