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Osteoporosis Man
January 4, 2008 |
Dr. Alan Tannenbaum is a family physician with Lee Physician Group. He says he often
sees patients who are dealing with complications from Osteoporosis. “The definition
of osteoporosis is simply thinning of the bone to where the bone is brittle and
when bone is brittle bone is at risk of breaking or fracturing.” Although the condition
is more common in elderly women, Dr. Tannenbaum says men should also be concerned
about the disease. “Typically we think of osteoporosis as a disease of females
but interestingly enough up to 10 to 20 percent of men have osteoporosis.” There are
many things that can factor into a man’s risk of developing osteoporosis including
their diet. “A man that never drank milk or had crones disease or irritable bowl
or lactose deficiency or if they didn’t eat green, leafy, vegetables to re-trap
the calcium, they’re already calcium deficient and their bones are thin to begin
with.” Physicians add that there are things you can do to prevent and treat osteoporosis.
Like many other diseases, the earlier it’s diagnosed the better it can be treated.
“The biggest part of preventative medicine is diagnosing the problem early when
it is osteopenia. If you can catch a female or male very early in the process you
can change the course of the disease,” says Dr. Tannenbaum. There are many ways
to change that course and help increase bone growth as you age. Treatments include prescription medications or supplements of extra calcium and vitamin c. Area physicians
say they see a number of elderly patients with complications from osteoporosis.
They say that can be mainly attributed to the fact that ten or 15 years ago those
patients did not have the benefit of the current preventative medication.
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