Tag Archives: FRAX

Preventing falls

This is the time of year when seniors are most at risk of falls. Icy steps and sidewalks, slippery wet leaves, cold weather slowing reaction time and often poor light hiding treacherous outdoor conditions. So far we’ve been lucky in 2011, at least in the lower mainland, with relatively warm, albeit wet, weather and not to much of the dreaded ice about. But seniors 65 and older are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population and the estimate is that around 1 in 3 will have at least 1 … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Men's Health, Osteoporosis, Senior's Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Osteoporosis guidelines

Late in 2010 I came across an interesting article in the Canadian Medical Journal (CMA) in which new guidelines were outlined to help physicians deal with managing and preventing osteoporosis. According to the study’s lead author, Professor Alexandra Papaioannu, the goal is early identification of those most likely to develop full blown osteoporosis later in life. The approach recommended in the guidelines is quite different to that currently taken. Instead of relying on bone mineral density (BMD) testing  -read more about BMD and testing here- http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/530 , and then using … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Low back, Osteoporosis, Senior's Health, Women's Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Osteoporosis treatment

 If diet and exercise alone were enough to prevent or even reverse the changes wrought by osteoporosis, management would be fairly straight forward.  Unfortunately, that is not the case. So what are the medical implications for those diagnosed as osteoporotic? The main dangers come with falling, but even lesser forces can result in low trauma fractures which are both debilitating for the patient and costly for the health system. There are several different families of medications that can help with osteoporosis. Some work by slowing the destructive reabsorbption of bone; some help promote new bone development, some … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Osteoporosis, Senior's Health | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments