Ladies, have you ever seen anyone with a slouched posture? Or maybe people are prone to bone injuries? A slouched posture and frequent bone injuries are a sign of osteoporosis, commonly known as bone loss. Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease characterized by reduced bone strength, causing bones to break easily (International Osteoporosis Foundation, 2020).
In conditions involving osteoporosis, bones become brittle due to decreased bone mass and changes in the shape of bone tissue. Thus, osteoporosis is characterized by a decrease in bone density and quality. Bone density is measured by the number of grams of mineral per volume of bone, while bone quality is related to the structure of bones and the process by which our bones break down and rebuild. Bone density can be calculated using tools, while bone quality cannot be measured with numbers.
In general, osteoporosis is more common in women than in men. In addition, osteoporosis is more common in older people. It is estimated that one in three women and one in five men over 50 will develop a fracture due to osteoporosis. In addition, 23% of women aged 50-80 and 53% of women aged 70-80 have osteoporosis (Asia Pacific Regional Audit: Epidemiology, Costs, and Burden of Osteoporosis, 2013).
In Indonesia, data analysis on the risk of osteoporosis was carried out in 2005 by the Nutrition Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. This research was conducted on more than sixty thousand people in 16 regions of Indonesia by bone mass density using a diagnostic tool called a clinical bone sonometer. Bone density tests are performed to evaluate the possibility of osteoporosis by measuring bone density with sound technology in ultrasound.
It is known from this research that as many as two out of five people in Indonesia are living with early osteoporosis, commonly known as osteopenia. Meanwhile, one in ten people in Indonesia has osteoporosis. Interestingly, osteopenia occurs in women over the age of 55. The prevalence of osteopenia in this age group is six times greater than in men. Consistent with this, the rate of osteoporosis in Indonesian women is twice that of men.
In addition, the International Osteoporosis Foundation stated in 2013 that the prevalence of osteoporosis in Indonesia in women aged 50-70 was 23%, while in women aged > 70 was 53%. Osteoporosis is more common in women because when women enter menopause, their levels of the hormone estrogen decrease, and their ability to form bones decreases. This causes women's bones to become porous more quickly.
In people with osteoporosis, the bones' fragility causes them to break easily, even if it's just a minor injury. The World Health Organization states that 50% of hip fractures can cause lifelong disability and increase mortality. Meanwhile, in women who experience vertebral fractures, new fractures may occur within a year.
Knowing that the prevalence of osteoporosis in Indonesia is relatively high, we should be more sensitive to the risk factors and symptoms of osteoporosis. This article has discussed some of them, such as risk factors in the form of gender and age, as well as signs of a slouched posture and susceptibility to bone injury. An in-depth discussion of osteoporosis's risk factors and symptoms will be featured in the next article on Fitie, so don't miss out!
Sources:
Asia Pasific Regional Audit. (2013). Laporan Asia Pasific Regional Audit: Epidemiology, Costs, and Burden of Osteoporosis.
World Health Organization. 2013. WHO Scientific Group on the Assessment if Osteoporosis at Primary Health. 5(7).
Pusat Data dan Informasi. (2019). InfoDATIN: Situasi Osteoporosis di Indonesia. Jakarta: Kementerian Kesehatan RI.