Osteoporosis rising among youth: doctors

October 21, 2012   ·   0 Comments

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The threshold age for osteoporosis — traditionally thought to be somewhere around 50 or 60 years — appears to be shifting downwards in Kerala, orthopaedics from a private clinic in the city who addressed a press conference here on Friday said.

A sedentary lifestyle and marked reduction in the levels of Vitamin D in the body could be said to be the main reasons for rising incidence of the disease that was also known as the ‘silent thief,’ Thomas M. George and George Selvaraj said.

Dr. George said the problem had been noticed among IT employees who had a sedentary lifestyle. bone mineral density tests done on many such persons had returned readings indicative of bone density problems. It was also surprising that in Kerala, where there was plenty of sunlight, many persons had a deficiency of Vitamin D, he said.

Dr. Selvaraj said regular exercise was a sure-shot counter to the onset of osteoporosis. “While there are exercises such as swimming that mostly strengthen muscles, walking is one activity that strengthens bones too. Any weight-bearing exercise is good for the bones,” he added.

“When an aged person falls down and suffers a fracture, people normally say that the fracture was caused due to the fall. It is usually the other way round; aged persons fall down because their bones snap. Osteoporosis has its socio-economic implications too, in that such falls often leave aged persons bed-ridden and critically dependent on care givers,” the doctors said.

Tests for bone mineral density were not widely available under the public health system and were also not very cheap, the doctors pointed out.

In reply to a question, they said that while extensive data on the incidence of osteoporosis was available in the western countries, the situation in Kerala was the exact opposite.

By Web Editor

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