With Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at _Quotidien du Médecin, we are talking today about osteoporosis, which affects nearly 40% of women over 65, but also some men.
franceinfo: First of all, what is osteoporosis?
Martin Ducret :
Osteoporosis, is when the bones become brittle, they are then less robust and are more likely to break in the event of a fall, or during a trauma of low intensity. It should not be confused with osteoarthritis, a disease that destroys the joints – knees, hips, back – which hurts and leads to stiffness.
What is due osteoporosis?
The first cause is aging. There is also heredity, long-term corticosteroid use, certain hormonal diseases or even menopause, especially when it happens before the age of 40. So watch out! You hear the word menopause, but this disease also affects men. There is one affected man for every 2.5 women.
A large American study has just been published on the management of osteoporosis. She sought to evaluate the different treatments that exist?
Yes, to know their benefit, but also their risks, and in which case they should be prescribed. This study therefore allowed an update of the
American recommendations on the
osteoporosis carewhich are more or less the same as in France.
So how is this disease treated?
As Dr. Célia Delpech, rheumatologist at the Henri-Mondor Hospital, pointed out to me, _“the hardest thing is not to treat osteoporosis, but rather to detect this silent disease, most often discovered after occurrence of a fracture without violent shock.”
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To detect and diagnose it, we use an X-ray of the bone, which is called a bone densitometry, and which makes it possible to calculate the bone density. The lower it is, the more fragile the bone. An examination that is not systematically prescribed, but only in patients at risk of osteoporosis.
Once the disease has been diagnosed, there are medications to be taken over several years, such as the most commonly used bisphosphonates, which slow down bone degradation. It is obviously necessary to combine a sufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D, and above all to do physical activity in charge, to stimulate the bones, Nordic walking for example, and to work on your balance to avoid falling, and therefore, the divide.