Osteoporosis can affect these bones that we can find in the pelvis of the human
body. This bone over here is the femur, the longest bone of the human body and
it is a truly strong bone. The compact bone in the femur as well as the spongy
bone of the femur have an incredibly strong structure that can bear weight
that is transferred from the upper part of the body to the sacrum bone over here
and the hip bone over here. Osteoporosis causes a destruction of the spongy bone
and the compact bone and thus it can lead to fractures of the human bones
that can ultimately lead to death. So let’s explain what osteoporosis is and
after we explain what it is, let’s explain some possible causes besides
aging and lower estrogen levels and then let’s explain dangerous signs we should
never ignore. So the loss of bones mass, micro architecture and density is
defined as osteoporosis. This weakens even the strongest bones of the human
body and fractures of femur are one of the most dangerous fractures that the
human body can experience. But osteoporosis does not only affect the
pelvic bones, it also affects this over here. Well this is not a dinosaur or a
reptile. This what you can see here is the vertebral column of the human body.
So one thing we can do to diagnose osteoporosis in all of those bones is send
radiation through those bones, the hip bone, the femur and the lumbar spine and
then we can measure how much of the radiation is absorbed by these bones. We
refer to this examination as DXA, Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry and that can
help us define osteoporosis and strike the right diagnosis. Healthy bones are
supposed to absorb a lot of radiation, a lot of x-rays. Why? Because they are dense
but osteoporosis reduces the density of the bone tissue and it causes
micro architecture to deteriorate. Therefore osteoporotic bones cannot
absorb the radiation and a lot of radiation simply goes through them. By
measuring just how much radiation is absorbed in these bones we can calculate
the so-called T-score and if the T-score is less than minus 2.5 then we have the
right diagnosis, osteoporosis. In osteoporosis T-score is a statistical
measurement of bone mineral density. Low bone mineral density leads to
fractures and that brings us to the second way I wanted to explain on how we
can actually diagnose osteoporosis. Sometimes an easier way to diagnose
osteoporosis is to simply look at an x-ray scan and try to find typical
osteoporotic fractures on femur, hip bone or lumbar vertebrae. For example a
compression fracture of the lumbar vertebrae. But in osteoporotic patients
fractures that look similar to normal fractures can also happen but this time
with minimal trauma while running and there are also reports that fractures
can happen when sneezing and coughing. So lower levels of estrogen in older age
are thought to be the main reason why osteoporotic changes happen and why
bones are more prone to fractures. But what if that’s not always the case? What
if there’s something that we’re doing or an underlying condition that causes
osteoporosis and we don’t know about it? But before we explain these secondary
causes of osteoporosis I want to say that there are a lot of people who
actually do do these things that cause secondary osteoporosis or have
underlying conditions that are causing it. Therefore you can help us reach them
by liking this video and that will make YouTube suggest our videos to other
people searching for osteoporosis but you can also share this video with your
friends and colleagues. At the end if you like our video you can subscribe for
more videos in the future but make sure you click that bell button and then
click all because we noticed that YouTube doesn’t really suggest most of
our videos to our audience if they don’t click on all of these things. But now
back to the things we can do that can cause osteoporosis. This which you can
see here is a list of medications that doctors often prescribe to their
patients. Medications that can cause osteoporosis. Aromatase inhibitors,
gonadotropin releasing hormone analogs and selective estrogen receptor
modulators can all reduce the level of estrogen and that ultimately causes
osteoporosis which results in fractures. Corticosteroids a type of medication that
often causes secondary osteoporosis. A healthy bone is constantly resorbed by
the cells called osteoclasts and rebuilt by the cells called osteoblasts. This
natural process of rebuilding the bones of the human body can be disturbed by
corticosteroids and they can increase bone resorption and reduce bone
formation. But besides doctors causing osteoporosis by prescribing medication
they shouldn’t prescribe or prescribing too much of it, conditions such as
hyperthyroidism and Cushing’s syndrome could also be a cause of secondary
osteoporosis. But how do we recognize and how do we discover these signs that
indicate that conditions such as hyperthyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome or a
wrong type of medication is causing secondary osteoporosis? Two signs that I
always pay attention to when it comes to secondary osteoporosis caused by either
medication or an underlying condition are the onset of osteoporosis and the
progression of osteoporosis. The primary form of osteoporosis that develops with
aging and lower estrogen levels usually develops over a longer period of time
and then after a therapy has been applied with bisphosphonates,
teraparotide, calcium or vitamin D it slows down. Secondary form of
osteoporosis that is caused by medications or an underlying condition
develops more rapidly and then it doesn’t respond well to a standard
therapy for osteoporosis but instead it keeps progressing. So those are the two
signs we have to look after rapid onset and therapy resistance. So if you’re a
doctor and you want to make a video like this one go to anatomsky.com but if
you have more questions about osteoporosis then go to this link
symptomsky.com/help/osteoporosis while both good subscribe to
our channel.
Leave a Reply