Patient Newsletter 1998 Orthopaedic Outlook

Physicians Available for Speaking Engagements

Education helps prevent many cases of injury and disease. Regional Orthopaedic Health Care is dedicated to providing the community with information regarding orthopaedic medicine.

Doctors Knox and Occupational Therapist Melissa Smyth are available to speak at your club or organization. You may choose from a variety of presentation topics including: Sports Medicine, Osteoporosis, Occupational Therapy, Work Related Injuries, and Total Joint Replacement.

To schedule a speaking engagement, please call our clinic at 870-424-3400 or 1-800-621-3218.

Menopause and Osteoporosis Choices for a Healthy Future

Everyday at least one woman comes into our office with questions about osteoporosis. This disease threatens 25 million Americans, 80% of whom are women. There is much you can do to protect yourself from the debilitating effects of this disease.

The time to learn about osteoporosis is before bones break. After reviewing this information, please pass it on to others who can act now to prevent osteoporosis.

What is Menopause?

The following information comes from a brochure produced by the National Osteoporosis Foundation. For a free copy of the complete brochure, please stop by our office.

Responses To Estrogen Loss That You Cannot Feel

The word menopause comes from the Greek words for "month" and "end" and literally means the end of monthly periods. Menopause is a natural transition during which a woman goes from having regular periods to not having any. During this time, the ovaries slow their production of the two female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, and eventually stop producing eggs. In addition to the changes you can feel during menopause, there are other changes taking place that you cannot feel. These less obvious changes can lead to serious, long-term health problems, including osteoporosis and heart disease.

The Importance Of Taking Action Now

• Bone loss (leads to osteoporosis and fractures)
• High cholesterol and clogged arteries (leads to
  heart attacks and/or strokes)

The article focuses on osteoporosis and how it relates to menopause.

Osteoporosis literally means "porous bones." It is a hidden and silent disease that makes bones so thin and fragile that everyday actions like sneezing or lifting a child can cause bones to break.

At its worst, osteoporosis can result in chronic pain, disability, physical deformity, and loss of independence. Women with advanced osteoporosis say that this is the disease that, overnight, makes them feel frail and vulnerable. The pain and disability, and even the fear of more fractures, causes them to change the way they live. To protect their bones, women redefine themselves and their lives.

Osteoporosis is NOT an inevitable part of growing older. Osteoporosis is preventable and treatable, particularly at menopause.

In the years before menopause, estrogen levels can vary, causing irregular menstrual periods. Some bone loss may occur at this time. In the years following menopause, estrogen production ceases. This results in even greater bone loss. Women who begin menopause with low bone mass, or who have rapid or severe bone loss after menopause, are more likely to develop osteoporosis. (Bone mass is the calcium-rich material that makes bones strong.)

What Causes Osteoporosis?

Menopause is a good time for you to take steps to protect your bone health so you can live a full and independent life well into the future. Remember the time to find out about osteoporosis is before your bones begin to break.

Bone is considered a "tissue" that is continually "renewed" throughout life. During this renewal process, old bone tissue is removed and is replaced with new bone tissue. During youth, bones grow in size and strength because more bone tissue is laid down than is removed. Around age 30, bone removal starts to overtake replacement and both men and women lose bone. However, women have less bone mass than men and the rate of loss is generally greater in women than in men, especially at the time of menopause.

Osteoporosis Risk Factors

Osteoporosis occurs when too little bone is formed, when too much bone is lost, or a combination of both. With osteoporosis, there is not enough bone tissue and the normal architecture or structure of the bone is poor so that bones are weak and break easily.

Osteoporosis is a complex disease and although we do not know all of its causes, we do know that certain risk factors are associated with it.

• being a postmenopausal woman
• being tall (a woman over 5'6") or having a thin, small-boned frame
• a family history of broken bones or stooped posture, especially on mother's side
• menopause before age 45, either naturally or from surgical removal of the ovaries
• low estrogen levels as a result of amenorrhea (the abnormal absence of menstruation before menopause)
• advanced age
• a diet low in calcium
• an inactive lifestyle with little or no exercise
• Caucasian or Asian heritage; African American and Hispanic women are at lower but significant risk
• cigarette smoking
• excessive use of alcohol
• prolonged use of certain medications, including glucocorticoids; certain anti-cancer drugs; excessive thyroid hormone; and some anti-seizure medications

Act Now To Prevent Osteoporosis

Menopause is a good time to take action to prevent osteoporosis. Here are some steps you can take now:

• Review the osteoporosis risk factors. Do any of them apply to you? If so, change the ones you can.
• Pay special attention to medications that affect bone health.
• Talk to your doctor about having a Bone Mineral Density (BMD) test.
• Discuss with your doctor whether you are a candidate for estrogen replacement therapy and/or hormone replacement therapy to prevent osteoporosis.
• Eat a balanced diet.
• Make sure to get adequate calcium, vitamin D, and exercise to promote bone health and overall fitness.
• To increase your daily intake of calcium, select low or non-fat dairy products, soybeans, tofu, dark green vegetables, and calcium-fortified foods and juices.
• Use calcium supplements as a "safety net" if you cannot get enough calcium from food.
• Avoid excessive amounts of protein, sodium, alcohol, and caffeine in your diet, as they can cause you to lose calcium.
• Make weight-bearing activity a part of your everyday life. Ask your doctor to suggest safe exercises. Walking, running, cross-country skiing, strength-training, and tennis are all examples of weight-bearing exercise.
• Don't smoke. Limit alcoholic beverages.
• Seek out more information about menopause and osteoporosis.

For a free information brochure from the National Osteoporosis Foundation stop by Regional Orthopaedic Health Care. The brochure features a list of organizations that are good resources for this type of information.

If you are interested in scheduling someone to speak with your club or organization about osteoporosis, please contact our office at 870-424-3400. We are available to speak with groups in the Mtn. Home, Harrison and West Plains area.

Terry DePriest, Clinic Administrator, and Pat Turner, Executive Secretary, represented Regional Orthopaedic Health Care at Baxter Regional Medical Center's Health Fair. We participate in the health fair each year. During the fair, we provide free information on orthopaedic disorders, therapies, and clinic services.

Women's and Girls' Sports Gain Publicity

Within the last two years, NIKE aired a wildly successful television advertising campaign that told of the many benefits girls reap from participating in organized sports. NIKE and other national advertisers have joined together to support a number of athletic events for girls and women including the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Organized sports, whether on a national or local level, rely on the support of fans to pay for uniforms, travel and equipment, and to help build and maintain facilities.

Regional Orthopaedic Health Care is proud to support local team sports for girls, boys, men and women.

Team sports can improve self esteem, self confidence and team work skills. The Regional Orthopaedic Health Care (formerly Knox Orthopaedics) Girls Softball team is a testament to the benefits of working and playing as a team. Together these girls, ages 13 - 14, placed 12th in the state softball tournament held in Bentonville in the summer of 1998. Congratulations girls - we're proud of you!

Orthopaedic Outlook

The purpose of our newsletter is to provide patients with information concerning our staff, equipment, seminars and, most importantly, new developments in orthopaedic medicine.

The medical information provided in the newsletter may not be applicable to every patient. By reviewing your medical history and condition, your physician can provide you with more detailed information than can be offered in this publication.

If you have a topic you wish for us to address in the newsletter please send your suggestions to #3 Medical Plaza, Mountain Home, AR 72653.