Osteoporosis particularly affects older women: initial symptoms are often not even associated with it

When my great-grandmother was 85 years old, she broke her leg in her neck. I remember it very well because I called the ambulance as a seven-year-old child. My grandmother was ill, and this health complication was the last affliction that worsened her mental and physical condition. Unfortunately, she suffered from osteoporosis, which is reduced bone density and increased bone fragility. This is common in older women and leads to life-threatening complications.

If a young person breaks a bone, they can usually cope. But when a similar accident happens to someone who is older, perhaps with a long-term illness, it is much worse. In addition, it is the femoral neck fractures that occur most often in the elderly. It is a relatively thin bone that carries a lot of weight, so even an innocent stumble is enough to cause complications.

Osteoporosis in older women

Osteoporosis is a very unpleasant disease. It causes a gradual loss of bone mass and disruption of the internal structure of the bone. This makes the bones thinner, more fragile and more prone to fractures. The elderly have less calcium and other important minerals, so unfortunately complications occur very often. Statistics clearly show that the disease occurs most often in older women, almost twice as often as in men.

“At a certain age, an osteoporotic fracture is serious because we are talking about a 20% mortality rate within one year. In other words, a woman over 60 with an osteoporotic fracture has a 20% risk of death,” says Josep Vergés, family physician and clinical pharmacologist. He confirms what happened to my grandmother. She was much older. I remember that when the doctors told the rest of the family that it was a cervical fracture, they all began to accept the inevitable.

For a long time no symptoms are visible

Osteoporosis is unfortunately dangerous, because for a long time a person does not know about it. Weak bones and muscles can be strengthened by dietary supplements, by adding minerals to the body through a proper diet, but above all one must live carefully and function in such a way as not to harm oneself, because even a minor injury can lead to serious consequences. But people often do not know that they are suffering from a disease.

“Osteoporosis is widespread, but there are no clear indicators that immediately point to the disease,” says Philipp Wagner, a specialist in traumatology and orthopaedics at the Orthopaedic Centre Pfullendorf. He adds that back pain can sometimes be an indicator of a problem. However, this can have many other causes, so diagnosing osteoporosis from this one complication is not really easy.

If you’re one of the older people, or if you have someone around you who, for example, no longer walks well or has poorer eyesight, try to keep an eye on them. Do not leave them at home alone. Otherwise, it is quite possible that they will have an accident which could lead to something much worse.