Nursing

To prepare:

Review the Learning Resources for this week and consider the different types of women’s health issues.
Choose a women’s health issue from the following list and once you have selected an issue, search the Walden Library and/or the Internet regarding the health issue symptoms, diagnostic tests, and common treatments:
Osteoporosis

ANSWER 

Osteoporosis

Introduction

Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones that leads to weakening and easily breaking of bones. Osteoporosis has greatly affected older women, led to serious health issues and disabilities among older women. Considerably, one may have a bone loss for several years without any symptoms until they break. This paper will focus on Osteoporosis among women and discuss the health issue symptoms, diagnostic tests, common treatments, and options for primary prevention.

Risk Factors

Osteoporosis impacts more women than men. Women have a high probability of getting Osteoporosis since they usually have thinner, smaller, and less dense bones as compared to men. Women tend to lose more bone mass after menopause, thus having low hormone estrogen level (Sözen, Özışık, and Başaran, 2017). The female hormone estrogen is significant for healthy bones. However, after menopause, the level of estrogen falls, thus leading to a rapid reduction in bone density. The risk factors linked to Osteoporosis include aging, low body weight, low sex hormones and menopause. Osteoporosis is likely to occur in women with low calcium and eating disorders.

Health Issue Symptoms

Osteoporosis has no symptoms linked to an initial stage of bone damge. However, after bones are damaged by Osteoporosis, they are likely to have symptoms and signs that comprise of back pain, bone-breaking easily, stopped posture, and height loss over time (Mazziotti et al., 2012). Ideally, Osteoporosis is a silent disease which means that one needs to watch out for changes in posture such as bending forwarded or stopped posture and bone fractures.

Diagnostic Tests

To assess and diagnose the risk of Osteoporosis, a bone density scan is conducted. This examination is used to determine bone mineral density. Other diagnostic procedures linked to Osteoporosis include Bone X-ray, CT scan of the spine, and spine MRI. The Bone X-ray offers images of bones within the body, including arm, wrist, hand, shoulder, elbow, foot, ankle, shoulder, thigh, knee, and hip (Drake, Clarke, and Lewiecki, 2015). This helps in the diagnosis of fractured bones. CT scan of the spine assesses for fractures and alignment, which can be utilized in determining the bone density and verbal fractures. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) determines the verbal fractures to reveal the existence of the underlying disease.

Common Treatments

Common treatments for established Osteoporosis include vitamins, exercise, medications, and mineral supplements. Regular exercises and good nutrition play an essential role in keeping the bones healthy (Tu et al., 2018). For instance, protein is among the building blocks of bones and functions in preventing Osteoporosis.  Being underweight raises the chance of fracture and bone loss. On the other hand, excess weight is known to intensify the risk of fractures. Maintaining suitable body weight is essential in reducing the risk of having Osteoporosis. Therefore, body exercise and weight balance are important in the treatment of Osteoporosis. Hormone-related therapies have also been used to treat estrogen levels, thus increasing bone density.

Primary Interventions

Maintaining a healthy body and strong bones is the key to primary intervention for Osteoporosis. This demands one to participate in weight-bearing exercise, getting enough calcium in the diet, and including vitamin D as supplements. Alcohol moderation and smoking cessation are also essential in reducing the risk of Osteoporosis. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle remains the main strategy for preventing Osteoporosis.

References

Drake, M. T., Clarke, B. L., & Lewiecki, E. M. (2015). The pathophysiology and treatment of Osteoporosis. Clinical therapeutics, 37(8), 1837-1850.

Mazziotti, G., Bilezikian, J., Canalis, E., Cocchi, D., & Giustina, A. (2012). New understanding and treatments for osteoporosis. Endocrine, 41(1), 58-69.

Sözen, T., Özışık, L., & Başaran, N. Ç. (2017). An overview and management of Osteoporosis. European journal of rheumatology, 4(1), 46.

Tu, K. N., Lie, J. D., Wan, C. K. V., Cameron, M., Austel, A. G., Nguyen, J. K., … & Hyun, D. (2018). Osteoporosis: a review of treatment options. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 43(2), 92.