Posted on 08/26/2009 8:45:36 PM PDT by neverdem
Rates of hip fractures, an often devastating consequence of osteoporosis, have been steadily falling for two decades in Canada, a new study finds. And a similar trend occurred in the United States, researchers found. But it is not clear why.
Drugs that slow the rate of bone loss may be part of the reason, but they cannot be the entire explanation, osteoporosis researchers say. And although experts can point to other possible factors — like fall prevention efforts and a heavier population — the declining rates remain a medical mystery.
The new study, published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, analyzed Canadian hospitalization data. From 1985 through 2005, the researchers report, hip fracture rates, adjusted for the age of the population, fell by 32 percent in women and by 25 percent in men.
A United States study, published in 2007 to little notice, analyzed national data on hospital discharges from 1993 through 2003 and found nearly the same percentage declines in hip fracture rates.
Dr. Stephen H. Gehlbach of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst reported a 20 percent decline in the age-adjusted hip fracture rate for men and women in that 11-year period. The drop was so pronounced that even though there were more older people in the population in 2003 than in 1993, there actually were fewer hip fractures. In 1993, 225,000 Americans were discharged from hospitals after being treated for a broken hip. In 2003, that number was 209,000.
In Canada, there was a slight increase in the absolute number of hip fractures in the 21-year period studied because there were more so many more elderly people in 2005 than in 1985.
“I was amazed,” said Dr. William D. Leslie, a professor of medicine and radiology at the University of Manitoba and the Canadian study’s lead...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So we’re more cushy in the tooshie.
Walkers being replaced by electric scooters!
More couch potatos ....
“the rare advantage of carrying extra weight....”
You’re also less susceptible to hypothermia!
My 87 year old mother just broke her hip four months ago. She was going to take a nap and tripped on a shoe. Flipped her head over heels. She didn’t have the cordless phone (we bought her three) and had to scoot around the bed to get to the phone. Wasn’t osteo that caused her to fall, just an accident. By the way, she’s back at home, living alone. Just do her laundry, and vaccum.
1) knowledge that osteoporisis was the culprit.
2) increased calcium in diet
3) weight bearing exercise.
Why the great mystery..Focus on Fitness and nutrition have been the norm for the past 30 years.
It’s the low fat, low protein diet that does it.
Have your Mom start taking 5000 units of Vitamin D3, try to convince her to increase protein and animal fats.
The Fosamax is not a good idea. I followed the above and totally turned around my osteopenia.
You are blessed that your Mom is healthy and active - may those genes be passed on to you - that said - you're right - ObamaCare will kill off the best of American medicine...
She won’t listen to me. I’ve given up and am just watching my own health regime. Agree about Vit D. And Weights! (not Barbie weights, either).
Seems like a good possibility.
Heh...well, you had better keep up your reading - these currently healthy things keep changing with new science...
Actually, they really don’t always have a clue, just do what you would think is healthy and you would probably be right more often than your Doctor. Common sense usually works...
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