Senile osteoporosis

Senile osteoporosis, has been recently recognized as a geriatric syndrome with a particular pathophysiology.

Senile osteoporosis
Other namesOsteoporosis type II

It has been pointed out that senile osteoporosis is the product of a skeleton in an advanced stage of life and also due to a deficiency caused by calcium, but physicians are also coming to the conclusion that multiple mechanisms in the development stages of the disease interact together and the product is an osteoporotic bone, regardless of age.[1]

Cause

Most of the etiologic considerations regarding senile osteoporosis are not very clear for physicians yet. But based on the current evidence attached to clinical experimentation, it has been determined that the pathogenesis of the disease is clearly related to a deficiency of zinc. Such deficiency is known to lead to an increment of endogenous heparin, which is most likely caused by mast cell degranulation, and an increase in the bone resorption (calcium discharge in the bones) reaction of prostaglandin E2, which constrain the formation of more bone mass, making bones more fragile. These co-factors are shown to play an important role in the pathogenetic process attached to senile osteoporosis as they enhance the action of the parathyroid hormone.[2]

The intake of calcium in elder people is quite low, and this problem is worsened by a reduced capability to ingest it. This, attached to a decrease in the absorption of vitamin D concerning metabolism, are also factors that contributes to a diagnosis of osteoporosis type II.

Diagnosis

Treatment

Even though more studies are necessary for an efficient evaluation of the role played by zinc in senile osteoporosis, doctors recommend a proper supplementation of dietary zinc.

Replacement estrogen has proved to be an efficient way to combat the loss of bone mass in women when such treatment is started in the menopausal stage of their lives. John R. Lee, a Harvard graduate who wrote a book on the subject, came to the conclusion that by adding supplementation with natural progesterone to an existing natural osteoporosis treatment program, bone density was increased every year by 3-5% until it stabilized at the bone density levels expected for a 35-year-old woman, this after studies in 100 women between 38 and 83 with an average of 62 years old.[3]

References
  1. An overview on Osteoarthritis MedicineNet. Retrieved on 2010-03-05
  2. National Center for Biotechnology Information. "Etiology of senile osteoporosis" 2010-03-05.
  3. Natural Progesterone And Osteoporosis Treatment Archived 2010-03-08 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2010-03-05

Further reading
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