August 09, 2008	Saturday	Sha’aban 6, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 8: Health experts at a seminar on Friday underlining the need for certain changes in lifestyle to prevent osteoporosis — a disease causing weak and brittle bones and stress fractures — observed that the ailment, besides its other repercussions, put social and financial burden on the patient’s family.

The nature, causes, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, found to be more common in women than in men, was deliberated upon in detail at the seminar titled, “Prevention of osteoporosis through physical activity”, organised by the department of health and physical education of Karachi University.

Saying that prevention is always better than cure, Dr Masood A. Qureshi, head of the physiology department at the Dow International Medical College, pointed out that the uncomfortable disease could be kept at bay by staying active. He said: “The impact of the disease is manifold. It is a social and financial burden on the patient’s family. Becoming dependant on others for even the smallest of things like needing assistance in trying to walk or even standing up in order to perform even the simplest of daily routines causes emotional stress to both the patients and their close relations,” he added.

In her lecture on the gynaecological aspect in osteoporosis, Dr Khusro Sultana, chief gynaecologist at the Liaquat National Hospital, explained the changes occurring in bone density of postmenopausal women with estrogen deficiency. She pointed out that osteoporosis was on the rise in Asia where more and more women were falling prey to it due to lack of exercise and poor diet.

“Other women with a high risk of succumbing to the disease include those with a hereditary history or prolonged intake of hormones or anti-estrogen drugs such as dianazol or anticoagulant drugs. But it should also be understood that women over the age of 50 years will lose up to 25 per cent bone mass with every passing year,” she explained.

During diagnosis, she said, a doctor suspecting osteoporosis would consider the patient’s age, followed by body weight to measure the bone mass density. Treatment besides taking the prescribed medicines included changes in diet and lifestyle, she said.

Used in combating the ailment alendronate was hailed as the best modern medicine by an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, who is also the provincial minister for sports. “Although costly, the agent, given to the patient by drip only once a year, enables the bones to develop more bone tissue in order to overcome the loss,” he said.

Talking about clinical and surgical consideration in osteoporosis, the subject of his lecture, the surgeon showed various slides of x-rays with small and big lacunae, depending on the intensity of the disease.

“Some bad habits to be sorry about later on,” according to the surgeon, “include prolonged periods of inactivity, reading in bed, alcoholism, insomnia, etc. Space travel and long periods of weightlessness may also lead to osteoporosis,” he said while mentioning glandular problems and kidney trouble as the other common causes attributed to the disease.

While, also agreeing on the principle of prevention being better than cure, the expert stressed on staying active by indulging in strenuous exercise that’ll keep the ever going on fight between the osteoblasts (cells responsible for bone formation) and osteoplasts (cells that eat away at the bone) at a healthy balance.

All the three doctors present at the talk agreed on keeping fit through regular exercise, controlling weight and taking Vitamin D as being some of the best preventive measures.

In reply to a question from the audience about players, who have already led very active lives, getting the disease later, Dr Shah said: “When the diet and training changes, the body which was also used to that kind of exertion, has a hard time doing without it.”

KU vice-chancellor Dr Pirzada Qasim, who also presided over the seminar, spoke at the end. While asking the department of health and physical education to organise more such informational seminars on common but serious diseases, he stressed on spreading awareness regarding illnesses such as osteoporosis that affects one in every five women in the world but can be prevented by keeping healthy habits.