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Until we are about thirties, our body makes more bone than it breaks down, making our bones heavier and stronger. This is followed by a period of stability: bone building and bone breakdown keep each other in relative balance. When women go through the menopause, the bone breakdown exceeds the build-up due to hormonal changes. The bone density normally decreases slowly, but that process can also suddenly go quickly – that is osteoporosis. The bones become more brittle, the risk of fractures increases. This can also happen in men, but usually at a later age. And it sometimes happens to young people too.
“85% of osteoporosis patients are not aware of this or are not being treated for it”, says Dr Michaël Laurent, geriatrician at the Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden and board member of the ‘Belgian Bone Club’, a scientific organization that promotes knowledge about osteoporosis and promote other bone diseases. “Osteoporosis is a ‘silent disease’, like elevated cholesterol or high blood pressure. You lose bone but you don’t feel it until you break something. A fracture can be very limiting, especially in older people, there is a fear of additional fractures, activities and social contact are limited, they no longer dare to pick up their grandchildren… Osteoporosis can have a serious impact on the quality of life.”
Misconception
Yet the disease is still too much regarded as age-related wear, says Laurent. “It is a misconception that osteoporosis is part of the normal aging process, and that treatment in old age should no longer be worth it. That is true.”
“A healthy lifestyle is always a good idea to prevent many diseases,” says Laurent. “Exercise is also important to prevent osteoporosis, not smoking, not drinking too much, a balanced diet with sufficient calcium… But healthy people can also get osteoporosis. And often it is also related to other diseases, such as diabetes, or the use of cortisones, for example.”
With lifestyle adjustments, osteoporosis can often be kept stable, if the disease has not progressed too far. “But there is also medication, which has greatly improved over the past ten years. Today, after several years of treatment, we even speak of a cure for osteoporosis.”
Measuring bone density
“But then it is crucial that the disease is detected in time,” says Laurent. “Doctors pay attention to high blood pressure and cholesterol, but a referral to have someone’s bone density measured rarely happens. However, a scientific guideline states that such a screening is recommended in particular for women aged 65 and over. It is a simple examination in a radiology department, with few X-rays, so it is harmless. It is also repaid every five years.”
In Belgium there are an estimated 681,000 people with osteoporosis. The disease causes them more than 100,000 fractures each year – that’s 274 a day, or one every six minutes. You can do a self-test via the website www.osteoporosenews.be. A webinar about osteoporosis can be followed via https://www.webinar-osteoporose.be/nl on October 26 at 8 pm, including with doctor Michaël Laurent.
www.osteoporosenews.be, https://www.webinar-osteoporose.be/nl; Osteoporosis patients find each other on Facebook in the ‘Osteoporosis Fellowship Contact’ group.