Health issues with Acheever; Care to know about the treatment of osteoporosis?

It is another beautiful day and I hope you guys are doing wonderfully well, healthwise.
For the past few days, I have been taking a series of lessons on bone loss. In the last lesson, I talked about; effects of bone loss or osteoporosis, factors affecting bone strength, various tests employed in its diagnosis, and recommendation of bone density tests.
Read here
Today, the lesson will be on how osteoporosis can be treated and prevented

Image source
Basically, the treatment and prevention is aimed at treating and preventing anything that could lead to the occurrence or recurrence of fractures in patients, and using medications that would elevate or increase the strength and density of our dearly bone. Besides, it is not easy to reinvigorate a bone that has been damaged or weakened by osteoporosis, its prevention is however, vital or important as the treatment.
Highlighted below are the different methods by which osteoporosis/bone fracture can be prevented;

I. Prevention of falls:
As one ages, the risk of falling becomes very high and it is almost inevitable. However, there are some basic and important steps that could be taken to prevent falls or reduce the harms that could result from it.
Falls can be prevented or simply reduced by staying energetic, lively and healthy through some measures; For example, involving oneself in exercises, probably due to the fact that there could be an enhancement of balance and fortification of muscle could result through this. However, not all exercises are suitable for this. Examples of the recommended exercises by doctors are mainly weight-bearing ones such as; low-impact dancing, high-impact aerobics, hiking, jogging/running, jumping rope, stair climbing and tennis which are likely to keep you far away from falls, even though it is inevitable.

(Man exercising himself)
Image source

If you're unsteady on your feet, speak to your GP(General Practitioner) so that possible causes of falls, such as poor eyesight, certain medications, and poor muscle strength and balance, can be identified and treated.

II. Adoption of a good lifestyle; An osteoporotic prone individual, If already living a bad lifestyle such as; excessive drinking of alcohol and smoking of cigarette, it is advisable for such person to forgo this or reduce the intake to the minimum as it increases the risk of bone fracture.

III. Osteoporosis can also be prevented through Medications, and these are called Osteoporosis Medicines. The most common type used are the bisphosphonates which are either taken as a pill through the oral cavity or as a liquid intravenously, that is, through the vein. This set of medicine helps the bone in the retention of calcium.

Bisphosphonates slow down the rate at which bone is deteriorated in our body. This maintains bone density and lowers the risk of fracture.

Examples of bisphosphonates include; Alendronate, Etidronate, Ibandronate, Risedronate and Zolendronic. They should be taken on an empty stomach with a cup of water.
Other medications include;
Strontium renelate

Hormone replacement therapy

Testosterone treatment; useful when osteoporosis is as a result of low production of testosterone in male.

Calcium and Vitamin D supplements
Calcium is the major mineral present in the bone, occupying about two-third of it. Therefore, it is of great importance to have sufficient amount of this nutrient in our diet.

For most healthy adults, the recommended amount of calcium is 700 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day, which most people should be able to get from a varied diet that contains good sources of calcium.

However, in osteoporotic patient, more calcium is needed.
Vitamin D, on the other hand is a very essential nutrient which helps the body to absorb calcium. All adults should consume about 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day.

Because vitamin D is found only in a small number of foods, it might be difficult to get enough from foods that naturally contain vitamin D and/or nourished foods alone. So all adults should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D.

Unfortunately, there are some medications that could enhance or cause bone loss. This type of medications should be avoided or in case such are prescribed to a susceptible patient, they should not be taken for a long period of time.
Examples of these drugs are;

• Glucorticoids for the treatment of asthma, athritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and some other health conditions.

• Phenytoin and phenobarbital for the treatment of epilepsy.

• Aromatase

• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist, written as GnRH agonists.

**Other medicines that may cause bone loss are;

• Heparin for the prevention of blood clot
• Antacids containing aluminium; for heartburn
• Loop diuretics such as furosemide and torsemide; for the treatment or management of heart failure, kidney problems and oedema.
• Medroxyprogesterone acetate; as contraceptive
• Methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.
• Cyclosporin and tacrolimus to prevent the repudiation of transplanted organs.
• Thiazolidinediones for diabetics.
  REFERENCES
• Medicinenet
• Hormone
• NHS
• Wikipedia
  Disclaimer: Every quoted fact in this article was gotten from here, and the cover photos used were from a copyright free site(https://pixabay.com).

ADVICE: Every steemian should adopt a better lifestyle so as to be saved from various health conditions.
THANKS FOR READING. I stand the chance to be corrected....@rocky1, @tojukaka.