Dr. Antúnez Flores explains that “when the drug enters the bloodstream, 61% comes to the bones in the next 24 hours, while the remainder is eliminated through the kidneys.”

The specialist explains that this new medicine is available in Mexico since May 2007. The active ingredient is zoledronic acid, an agent that has been subjected to numerous studies for more than three years in a population of 7.736 women. The volunteers were tested in 230 clinical research centers in 27 countries with truly optimal results:

It was demonstrated that vertebral fractures were reduced by 77%, hip fractures by 41% and nonvertebral, ie sustained in ribs, legs, arms or wrists, 25%.

All decreases were statistically significant, which states that the result was not due to luck but to the action of the drug.

It is well tolerated by the body and safe to use.

Osteoporosis is a disease whose incidence of public health will skyrocket in the next 30 years, concludes Dr. Antúnez Flores, “will determine that there are many people at risk of fractures and, in extreme cases, loss of life.

Therefore, zoledronic acid is a good resource to achieve adherence to treatment of 100% because the patient does not worry about taking their medicine each week or month. Clarify that it is not a vaccine or an injection, but an infusion may be placed in a medical office, hospital or other place with the conditions that the patient can receive serum. ”

The cost of the new drug is around 6.000 pesos, which, according to experts interviewed, is between 15 and 20% cheaper than treatment with pills. However, as is evident, the payment of the medicine must be in a single display, which could prevent many people comply with treatment compliance, which is essential to combat osteoporosis.

Numbers and bones

- Two thirds of women older than eighty years have osteoporosis.
- For men, 1 in 8 have this problem.
- Approximately 50% of hip fractures occur in patients with more than eight decades of life.
- By 2050, 1 in 2 women over 50 years could have a fracture caused by osteoporosis.
- In that year, hip fractures could rise 310% and 240% in men and women.
- It is expected that in 2041, 25% of the world population will be over 65 years, and this would increase the incidence of the disease dramatically.
- The annual number of osteoporotic fractures in women is higher than that of females who suffer stroke (interruption of blood supply to the heart or brain tissue) and breast cancer combined.
- The risk of dying from complications of hip fracture is equal to the risk of dying from breast cancer.

Therapeutic Details

- Treatment with zoledronic acid is recommended for postmenopausal women to reduce the incidence of vertebral, nonvertebral and hip at the same time it helps increase bone mineral density.
- Also used to treat Paget’s disease, a condition in which there is a chronic deterioration of the bones (it is rare before 55 years).
- It went on sale in Germany in May 2005 and since then has been approved for use in over 50 countries, including Canada, the United States and forming the European Union.

credit to: Juan Fernando González G.

Until now, medical science-based treatment using drugs such as raloxifene or bisphosphonates, which prevent bone loss and that once they begin to be administered should be consumed for life. It is also frequent intake of calcium and vitamin D, but it clarifies the interview, “is a supplementary therapy should not be confused with those used to treat or prevent osteoporosis.”

Overall, Flores Antunez said, “we can speak of two groups of drugs: first, the antiresorptive (such as bisphosphonates) that are most required in almost all countries and to prevent the bone be destroyed, and the other the anabolic, promoting new bone formation.”

However, it also explains the professor, until today we have a serious problem that prevents us from talking of success in combating this disease, and refers to the adherence to treatment, “a concept which is summarized as the sum of compliance and consistency with which the patient takes his medication, according to medical prescription.”

Details about this concept: “It is that the patient take the pill as the doctor explains, for example, to do half an hour before their food, a glass of plain water (not soda, milk or coffee, because they can alter the effect) and it happens that they do not comply. There are also problems in terms of persistence, ie, in the fullness of time it should take a pill to cure the disease, it is often called the drug for eight days, and the patient only makes four ” .

Specifically, the specialist said that studies show the lack of commitment to patients with osteoporosis. A clear example is that 45% of a total of 40 000 patients over 65 years with a bisphosphonate-based therapy, did not have the recipe in a year, while 52% did not do it right in five years.

The lack of attachment, said Flores Antunez, is widespread in clinical practice, which jettisoned many of the preventive efforts. “In the case of postmenopausal osteoporosis, we are far from achieving the goal because, for example, 30% of those who follow a regimen of hormone replacement to provide estrogen and stop the deterioration of the skeleton, leaving the treatment.”

Bisphosphonates are the cornerstone of treatment, however, lack of attachment when a pill, whether it be daily, weekly or monthly, not enforced. Initially, this type of taking daily medications, but when they changed the display and were given weekly was an improvement, as it went from 31.7% to 44.2% effective. However, we are far from 100%.

“In general, patients with osteoporosis have an average of adequate intake of oral medications for between 3 and 6 months, at most, which is a real problem”, says the endocrinologist.

credit to: Juan Fernando González G.

After 30 years, says the doctor, “let’s keep the bone and to seek a balance, we can help make this happen with the exercise and carrying out diet rich in calcium and minerals, not forgetting that both measures also contribute to the regulation of hormone levels. “

It is right on these steps that must be provided to the bones of all the elements necessary for their health, as in the elderly and in women after menopause, bone operation takes a turn and then the process to remove bone (resorption) is faster than training.

For his part, Dr. Oscar Flores Antunez, endocrinologist and reproductive biologist who graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad La Salle in Mexico City, offers a clear example of what happens at this time: “Think in a fence where one side is a mason laying bricks (new bone), but the other is a worker who is responsible for removing them (old bone). If the head of them acts more slowly than it’s removed, the wall will collapse or disappear. This is what we call a problem of accelerated bone resorption.”

For his part, Dr. Mirassou says that this is the reason why the elderly “are little ones and little hunchback.” However, stressed that “the changes go far beyond that because we have a general deterioration of our quality of life, deformities such as a protruding abdomen, or decreased respiratory function, not to mention the aforementioned fractures.”

credit to: Juan Fernando González G.

The loss of calcium and bone mineral is responsible for fractures in elderly people and even his death. A novel therapy offers protection against this growing problem, with the annual application of medication in serum.

Much has been spoken of osteoporosis and the dire consequences that brings people from the elderly, mostly female. Today, medical science has identified that women can fully develop this disease at an early age, especially after menopause (when menstruation stops and reproductive life ends), so that preventive measures should be taken to prevent In the future quality of life of a rollover due to fracture of hip, spine, wrists, arms or legs.

To enter the context must be said that osteoporosis (deterioration of the quality of the bones, making them fragile) is a public health problem that affects approximately 200 million people worldwide. For the year 2050 is expected to be responsible for just over 500 000 fractures, only in Latin America, and it will be because the patients suffer from long ago and unwittingly microscopic ruptures in various skeletal structures.

Mineral loss

There are several types of osteoporosis: the age-related, you start to diagnose from 65, and secondary, arising as a result of another disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis (inflammatory process that affects the joints and organs of the body) or thyroid-related diseases (glands in the neck that is involved in various bodily functions). However, the most frequently appears, therefore, is much studied, is the first (postmenopausal).

This variant of the disease has a close relationship with the gradual decline of ovarian function and the loss of hormones such as estrogen, because in the absence of these substances is increased bone resorption, a process which in simple terms means that cells responsible for removing old material from the bones, called osteoclasts, do not do a good job.

More specifically, it is noteworthy that human bone undergoes a process of constant renewal, which is degraded and re-form. There are two types of cells involved in this process, on one hand, the osteoblasts, which are responsible for forming new bone, and the aforementioned osteoclasts.

In short, when the body makes bone resorption more rapidly than new bone is made, the mineral density of the skeleton is impaired.

credit to: Juan Fernando González G.

Osteoporosis is the most common type of bone disease.

Researchers estimate that 1 in 5 U.S. women over 50 have osteoporosis. Nearly half of all women over 50 will have a broken hip, wrist or vertebra (bones of the spine).

Osteoporosis occurs when the body is unable to form enough new bone, when too much old bone is reabsorbed by the body or both.

Calcium and phosphorus are two minerals essential for normal bone formation. Throughout youth, your body uses these minerals to produce bones. If you do not get enough calcium or if the body does not absorb enough calcium from the diet, can affect bone formation and bone tissues.

As you age, calcium and phosphate may be reabsorbed back into the body from the bones, which makes the bone tissue weaker. This can lead to brittle bones that are more prone to fractures, even without an injury.

Usually, the loss occurs gradually over a period of years and, often, the person will suffer a fracture before becoming aware of the presence of the disease. When this happens, the disease is in its advanced stages and damage is severe.
Osteoporosis

Watch this video about:
Osteoporosis

The main causes of osteoporosis are a drop in estrogen levels in women at the time of the menopausiamenopausia and decreased testosterone in men. Women over age 50 and men over 70 have a higher risk of osteoporosis.

Other causes include:

* Being confined to a bed
* Chronic rheumatoid arthritis reumatoideaArtritis, chronic kidney disease, eating disorders
* Take corticosteroids (prednisone, methylprednisolone) every day for more than three months or take some anti-
* HiperparatiroidismoHiperparatiroidismo

White women, especially those with a family history of osteoporosis, have a higher than average risk of developing the disease. Other risk factors include:

* Absence of menstrual periods (amenorreaamenorrea) long
* Take a large amount of alcohol
* Family history of osteoporosis
* Background Hormone therapy for breast cancer or prostate cancer
* Low body weight
* Smoking
* Too little calcium in the diet

Symptoms
Symptoms

There are no symptoms in the early stages of the disease.

The symptoms that occur in advanced disease are:

* Pain or tenderness or bone tenderness óseaDolor
* FracturasFracturas with little or no trauma
* Loss of height (up to 6 inches) over time
* Low back pain due to fractures of the bones of the spine
* CuelloDolor neck pain due to fractures of the bones of the spine
* Stooped posture or cifosiscifosis, also called “dowager’s hump”

Exams and Tests
Exams and Tests

The examination of bone mineral density (specifically a densitometry or dual energy radioabsorciometría, DEXA, for its acronym in English) measures how much bone you have. The doctor uses this test to predict risk of bone fracture is one in the future. For information on when to have the test, see óseaexamen density test bone density.

On rare occasions, you can use a special type of CT scan vertebraltomografía column of the spine may show loss of bone mineral density, Quantitative computed tomography (CBT).

In severe cases, a radiograph of the spine or caderaradiografía of the spine or hip may show fracture or vertebral collapse. However, plain radiographs of the bones are not very accurate in predicting whether someone is likely to have osteoporosis or not.

You may need other blood and urine tests if your osteoporosis is thought to be due to a medical condition, rather than simply the usual bone loss seen with older age.
Treatment
Treatment

The goals of treatment for osteoporosis are:

* Control pain with the disease
* Slow down or stop bone loss process
* Prevent bone fractures with medicines that strengthen bone
* Minimize the risk of falls that might cause fractures

There are several different treatments for osteoporosis, including change in lifestyle and a variety of medications.

Medications are used to strengthen bones when:

* Has been diagnosed with osteoporosis by a bone density study
* Has been diagnosed with osteopenia (thin bones, but not osteoporosis) through a bone density test, if there has been a bone fracture

Bisphosphonates:

Bisphosphonates main drugs used to both prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

* The bisphosphonates taken by mouth include alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva) and risedronate (Actonel). Most are taken by mouth, usually once a week or once a month.
* Bisphosphonates administered intravenously are taken less frequently.

CALCITONIN

It comes in nasal spray or injection. It is a drug that slows the rate of bone loss and relieves bone pain. The main side effects of calcitonin are nasal irritation from the spray and nausea from the injectable form.

Calcitonin appears to be less effective than bisphosphonates.

Hormone

Estrogen therapy hormonoterapiahormonoterapia or almost not used to prevent osteoporosis and are not approved to treat a woman who has already been diagnosed with the condition.

Sometimes, if estrogen has helped a woman and she can not take other options to prevent or treat osteoporosis, the doctor may recommend that you continue using hormone therapy. If you are considering taking hormone therapy to prevent osteoporosis, discuss the risks with your doctor.

Parathyroid Hormone

Teriparatide (Forteo) is approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women with severe osteoporosis and are considered at high risk of fractures. The drug is administered via daily subcutaneous injections and the same woman might apply at home.

Raloxifene

Raloxifene (Evista) is used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. It’s like a drug for breast cancer tamoxifen. Raloxifene can reduce the risk of spine fractures by almost 50%, however, does not seem to prevent other fractures, including hip. You may have protective effects against heart disease and breast cancer, although further studies are needed to confirm.

The most serious side effect of raloxifene is a small risk of blood clots in the veins of the legs (deep vein thrombosis) or lungs (pulmonary embolism).

EXERCISE

Regular exercise can reduce the likelihood of bone fractures in people with osteoporosis. Some of the recommended exercises include:

* Weight-bearing exercises such as walking, jogging, tennis, dancing
* Resistance exercises free weights, weight machines, rubber bands for stretching
* Balance Exercises: tai chi, yoga
* Riding a bike
* Using rowing machines

Avoid any exercise that presents a risk of falling or high-impact exercise that can cause fractures.

DIET

Eat at least 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily and 800 to 1,000 international units of vitamin D. This vitamin helps your body absorb calcium. Your doctor may recommend a supplement to provide calcium and vitamin D is needed.

Eat a diet that provides adequate amounts of calcium, vitamin D and proteínaproteína Dvitamina. Although this will not completely stop bone loss, it will guarantee that the supply of materials the body uses to form and maintain bones.

Foods rich in calcium include:

* Cheese
* Ice Cream
* Leafy green vegetables such as spinach and kale
* Low-fat milk
* Salmon
* Sardines (with bones)
* Tofu
* Yogurt

Unhealthy habits SUSPENSION

Stop smoking, if they do. Also limit alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol can cause damage to bones, as well as put you at risk for falls and broken bones.

FALL PREVENTION

It is critical to prevent falls. Avoid sedating medications and remove household hazards to reduce the risk of fractures. Make sure your vision is good. Other ways to prevent falling include:

* Avoid walking alone on days when snow falls
* Using bars in the bathroom when needed
* Wear shoes that fit well

CONTROL

The response to treatment can be monitored with serial measurements of bone mineral density every two years.

Women taking estrogen should have mammograms, pelvic exams and Pap smears.

RELATED SURGERIES

There are no surgeries to treat osteoporosis such, but can use a procedure called vertebroplasty to treat any small fractures in the spine due to osteoporosis. This procedure may also help prevent weak vertebra from becoming fractured by strengthening the bones in the spine.

The procedure involves injecting a paste that hardens quickly in areas that are fractured or weak. A similar procedure, called kyphoplasty, uses balloons to widen the spaces that need the glue (The balloons are removed during the procedure.)
Prognosis
Prognosis

Medications to treat osteoporosis may help prevent fractures, but vertebral collapse that has already occurred can not be neutralized.

Some people with osteoporosis become severely disabled as a result of weakened bones. Hip fractures leave about half of patients unable to walk independently. This is one of the main reasons why people are admitted to nursing homes.

Although osteoporosis is debilitating, it does not affect life expectancy.
Possible complications
Possible complications

* Crushing vertebral
* Disability caused by severely weakened bones
* Hip and wrist
* Loss of ability to walk due to hip fractures

Call your health care provider
Call your health care provider

Call your doctor if you have symptoms of osteoporosis or to be screened for this disease.
Prevention
Prevention

Calcium is essential for the formation and maintenance of healthy bones. Vitamin D is also needed because it helps your body absorb calcium. The Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet can help you get these and other important nutrients throughout life.

Other tips for prevention:

* Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
* Do not smoke
* Exercise regularly

There are many drugs approved for the prevention of osteoporosis.

Today, thanks to advances in science, the population has aged, so the number of people with involutional osteoporosis has also increased. Within this population could be considered two groups: the first people with a clinical disability have clearly not in their activities and in the second group, much reduced, for example those with vertebral compression, or other pathologies they cause extensive disability (all of the first group are at risk of being the second).

As we said that the global trend is the increase in the average age of population, it is necessary that persons who work with these individuals know very well what the risk factors of disease, the implications of nutritional programs and therapeutic measures taken into account.
Also taken into account genetic and environmental factors in the development of osteopenia in adults.

Physical activity is essential among therapeutic measures given the positive correlation between muscle mass and bone mass. As all rehabilitation is a very important weapon in preventing bone disorders or treat osteoporosis, alleviating symptoms once established.

RISK FACTORS

The form of alcohol, snuff, coffee consumed as usual toxic abuse, diet too high in protein such as occurs with excessive intake of red meat, estrogen deficiency in early menopause, previous vertebral fractures and sedentary lifestyle.

DIETARY CONTROL

This control will know that diet can harmfully affect the skeleton, either by the high content of phosphorus or protein. The high protein content leads to increased calcium excretion through the urine causing a negative balance of this mineral phosphorus on the other hand creates a great influence on parathyroid hormone that induces osteoporosis.

CHEMICAL TREATMENT

Treatment with estrogen for women with early osteoporosis is an excellent weapon for therapeutic use, as well as the use of low dose calcitocina prolonged and that is being set up in people with multiple risk factors and clear .

POSTURAL CORRECTION

Correction of the spine, especially in attitudes or hyperlordotic kyphotic in the elderly and elderly, is essential in preventing osteoporosis.
Maintain correct posture standing, sitting or lying position, keeping your torso upright, with good muscle tone prevents kyphosis or combating and preventing the occurrence of compression fractures.
This must be done in any situation that requires us to sit, whether driving, working or at a show that we occupy for a long time, trying to avoid hyperlordosis, if necessary with a little pillow, and trying to be straight kyphosis.
Lying is recommended to use a firm mattress with low pillow for not forcing the curvature of the back.
During the practice of activities, although efforts are minimal, it must take into account certain points such as stooping, or manipulate objects of daily life that are at low levels, bend your knees and keep your spine straight. Using elements that help us when performing out of balance.

FISISCAS AND SPORTING ACTIVITIES

The work programs should be based on rather broad movements, which promote work across the range of motion, involving the majority of the joints of the body (if not almost all), avoiding the forced movement and above all the rotations because our bones are much more prepared for pressure and tension that for rotations. You can use all kinds of elements to work, to promote muscle work and mobility, as well as stretching, for example, anklets, rods, dumbbells, balls, elastic bands, bicycles, stairs, etc..
In all exercises should try to avoid the positions named in the previous point (kyphosis and lordosis).
Is just the spinal column which presents the biggest symptoms and pain, and ultimately the main causes of disability that can be prevented by correcting poor postural alterations or positions taken with stimulation of periarticular muscles and flexibility of it.
More important than knowing the exercises that is recommended is to know those who are among the contraindicated. Forced exercise should be avoided in any joint movement that can lead to fractures, especially rotations shoulders, wrists and hips. The column is necessary to avoid flexing the spine, the forced lateral bending and rotation. They should not forget the breathing exercises.
Among the most recommended sports activities include walking, cycling, swimming workout combining cardiovascular system, muscular system stimuli and osteoarticular, balance and coordination, and activities which aim to work on flexibility, control posture and muscle tone as pilates, yoga, dance, dances, etc..
Should always be advisable to evaluate the activities, according to the person’s psychophysical state, his knowledge of the activity, time does not make any practical, functional, and other determining factors, which marked the possibility of beginning to practice.

Senile Osteoporosis

Senile means that this disease only occurs in the elderly: senile osteoporosis usually occurs in people over age 70 years and twice as many women as men. Women usually have well-senile and postmenopausal osteoporosis.
In senile osteoporosis, long time no noticeable symptoms found, the disease is often not discovered until a fracture (eg hip fracture, wrist fracture, vertebral fracture or wervelinzakking or a pelvic fracture) occurs. Usually, the process of bone resorption with age ever.

Secondary Osteoporosis

Less than 5% of people with osteoporosis suffer from this disorder, this type of osteoporosis is caused by endocrine disorders (especially thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal disorders), and chronic renal failure. The use of drugs such as corticosteroids (cortisone), excessive smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can worsen the disease.

Idiopathic Osteoporosis

This form of osteoporosis is very rare and the cause of this form of osteoporosis is as yet unknown. Persistent back pain and fractures lead to a further increased radiology, which only then the disease is diagnosed.
When this disease occurs in men, shall we allow a reduced density of the bone, and reduced size of the beendermassa. The lack of bone mass in this case has nothing to do with age.

1. What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis. The bones were decalcified and weaken greatly affect quality of life. Osteoporosis is a metabolic disease of bone (not joint, such as osteoarthritis). In her bones lose calcium and regular structure, thereby reducing their resistance to shock, break easily.

It mainly affects the vertebrae and long bones of the arms and legs. Osteoporosis means “porous bones”. Bones may weaken to the point that the daily action as bending, lifting or even coughing can cause a fracture.Therefore, osteoporosis is a problem for the propensity to fracture.

2. Consequences

His most dangerous consequence does not usually appear until one internally and in old age: it is the famous hip fracture, which kills many elderly people.

Before manifests as a variant of fracture of the wrist, with falls seemingly trivial, which is called a Colles fracture, or compression fractures of one or more vertebrae.

3. The quality of our bones

The quality of bone varies with age. The best time is between 25 and 30 years, when the bone reaches its maximum strength and toughness.

The risk of developing osteoporosis depends on how much bone mass is acquired between 25 and 35 years of age. The amount of this bone mass depends on the amount of calcium that is ingested from birth to this age group.

Hence the importance of adequate intake of calcium-rich foods.

After that age, everyone starts to suffer (especially whites)-scaling is very slow, which is accompanied by a decrease in total bone density.

This loss of density is much more marked in women after menopause. Begins to be significant to 60 years and is especially dangerous one or two decades later. It is therefore essential to have a balanced diet is not missing the extra contributions of calcium.

4. Risk groups

As in many other diseases, they get to know ever better the characteristics that make a person more at risk for osteoporosis:

- Women: the number of osteoporotic women is twice that of men with this disease. This is partly because women are less bone mass in youth, and partly to the menopause and the associated reduction in estrogen levels. Estrogens are female hormones that help, among other things, to maintain healthy bone. Osteoporosis in men is rare, except at very advanced ages (over seventy or eighty years) or in the presence of diseases or treatments that produce it.

- Age: the risk of osteoporosis increases rapidly with age. It is a disease whose causes can be traced back to childhood and youth, and whose consequences are suffering in old age.

- Race: Caucasian whites (that of most of Europe) is the greatest risk. The black population is the group with lower risk of this disease, followed by Hispanic Americans and Asians.

- Smoking: The smoking accelerates bone loss.

- Family history: having a mother or sister with osteoporosis increases the risk for osteoporosis.

- Lack of estrogen. Indeed, time appears to depend on estrogen exposure throughout life. The longer, less risk, ie, late menopause reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

- Drugs: antiepileptic drugs and corticosteroids are very harmful to the bones if taken so long. If you receive these treatments for any reason may need preventive treatment of osteoporosis. By contrast, some diuretics may protect against fractures.

- Other diseases: the removal of the stomach and other digestive tract diseases (like Crohn’s disease) may reduce gastrointestinal absorption of calcium. Anorexia nervosa can cause significant loss of bone mass. Hyperthyroidism also causes osteoporosis if not treated.

5. How can we prevent it?

To prevent fractures, it must preserve the bone structure and adequate calcium. This can be done by increasing peak bone density in youth or by slowing the losses suffered over the years.

Some of the most important preventive measures to avoid suffering from the illness must be made before age 30. Is to increase calcium intake and exercise to get achieve a good supply of bone.

Although unsuccessful then take much longer to become so brittle as to fracture. Unfortunately, many people have passed this age and could not care then.

These people want to stop bone loss, and this is not easy. To begin with, can ingest enough calcium and vitamin D, spend enough time outdoors (requires sunlight to activate vitamin D) and exercise.

These measures reduce losses, and are relatively simple to everyone the meet. Many older people are unable to get to a diet with all the calcium and vitamin D they need.

In this case, they can take tablets containing these two substances, or better yet, make food with extra calcium intake as milk or calcium-fortified yogurt.

In women, bone loss is associated with age is due to the amount of hormone loss that occurs at menopause.

The lack of estrogen accelerates decalcification. This acceleration of the decrease postmenopausal bone density can only be stopped by administering hormones that are no longer produced in the body.

In fact, it has already demonstrated that the use of hormones after menopause reduces the risk of vertebral or hip fracture in the future. It therefore seems reasonable that at least women who are at risk for osteoporosis (thin those who smoke or who have family history, for example) take hormones after menopause. The fracture risk can be reduced to 50%.

Other preventive measures include:

- Quitting smoking and alcohol abuse.

- Eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D supplements or fortified with these substances.

- Make exercise. Exercise helps strengthen bones because the bone is more resistant forms.

6. Possible treatments

When osteoporosis is becoming important, it is necessary to try a treatment to halt the loss of weight, if possible increase of new bone density and, above all, to decrease the risk of fractures.

The doctor should advise you about treatment options that best fit your personal physical condition.

In summary, these options are:

- Estrogen replacement therapy (TES) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) estrogen therapy is used both for prevention and for treatment of osteoporosis. Reduces bone loss, increases bone density in the spine and hip, and reduces the risk of fracture of spine and hip in postmenopausal women.

- Bisphosphonates: etidronate, alendronate, risedronate and other drugs in this class are used both for prevention and for treatment of osteoporosis. Reduce bone loss, increase bone density in the spine and hip, and reduce the risk of fracture of spine and hip. They have become the most effective group and therefore more used nowadays, although each has its side effects, which must be taken into account.

- Calcitonin: This is a natural hormone involved in calcium regulation and bone metabolism. Calcitonin slows bone loss, increase bone density in the spine and can relieve pain associated with bone fractures in women at least five years after menopause. Appears to reduce the risk of fractures, although not clearly demonstrated.

- Raloxifene: This new drug may help prevent osteoporosis. Apparently prevents bone loss in the spine, hip and the rest of the skeleton. It appears that the effect on the spine is not as strong as the other treatments, but its effect on the hip and the rest of the skeleton seem comparable. Yet known whether decreasing the risk of fractures.