Experts detailed how to deal with bone cliff aging

For a long time, fractures caused by accidental falls in the elderly are not uncommon. For older people, falling is a big deal. When many people reach a certain age, their bones will enter a “cliff” aging, and some small bumps may cause fractures or fractures.

So why do bones age? How to judge bone aging? How to do bone care? With these questions, science and Technology Daily reporter interviewed Professor Fan Xiaohong, deputy director of the bone and Injury Rehabilitation Professional Committee of the Chinese Rehabilitation Medical Association and vice president of the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Osteoporosis is a hallmark

The growth, development and aging of the human body is a continuous and constantly changing process, and the intrinsic quality of bones is also changing anytime and anywhere. The bones of the human body continue to renew themselves throughout life, without stopping for a moment. Bone renewal includes two processes: bone resorption and bone formation. The former is the enhancement of osteoclast activity to destroy old bone. The latter is the enhancement of osteoblast activity to promote new bone formation. At a certain age, the rate of bone absorption is greater than the rate of bone formation, bone mass begins to decrease, bone matrix also decreases, and bone gradually begins to age.

At the same time, bone strength depends not only on the amount of internal material content, but also on the internal structure of the bone. Fan explained: “Bone trabeculae is the microstructure inside the bone, is a dense mesh structure in the bone marrow cavity, has the role of supporting bone, carrying load, is one of the main factors affecting bone strength. The density of the trabecular bone determines how loose the bone is.”

The hallmark of bone aging is osteoporosis. Fan Xiaohong said that osteoporosis makes the bones more and more brittle, osteoporosis people once bump, it is easy to lead to fractures. The most common site for osteoporotic fractures is the spine. Fan explained that with age, the spine of many elderly people will gradually become flat from round, and the trabeculae of the spine will become very sparse and cannot support a certain intensity of movement, which is easy to lead to vertebral compression fractures. In addition, the common elderly bone disease is also the distal radius fracture, also known as clay fracture, that is, the elderly gently fall, the palm of the wrist after touching the ground fracture.

Fan Xiaohong told reporters that from the human physiological aging mechanism, the bone aging time of women and men is different. The aging time of female bones is earlier, and most of them occur during menopause, that is, around the age of 50. Menopausal women estrogen will decline, lose estrogen protection, bone bone absorption activity increases, will cause abnormal bone decalcification, resulting in bone mass loss, so there will be obvious osteoporosis. In men, bone aging usually begins between the ages of 55 and 60.

The situation of bone aging in different occupational groups is also different, such as athletes, manual workers, they exercise more in the young and middle-aged, bone strength is relatively high, and bone aging will be more slow. Fan added: “The trabecular structure of athletes is relatively dense, while brainworkers do less exercise, and the trabecular density is relatively low. Bone calcium is more easily lost, and bones are more susceptible to aging.”

“Pain is an important indicator of aging in the body’s bones.” Fan Xiaohong stressed, “When people reach a certain age, the bones and joints of the whole body may have pain. Many people experience lower back pain, and in severe cases, the pain radiates down the rib cage, which is a common clinical manifestation of bone aging.” If bone pain occurs, the body is alerting the bones to possible aging.

How can the elderly maintain their bones

Speaking of bone maintenance, Fan Xiaohong suggested that, on the one hand, the elderly should have regular medical examinations and do bone density tests once a year. Bone mineral density (BMD) is the most effective predictor of fracture risk and can assist in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Bone tests are usually performed on the upright spine and bilateral femur. When a person’s spine has significant hyperplasia or deformation, a bilateral femur scan is more meaningful. The normal reference T value for BMD is between -1 and +1, and is abnormal when the T value is below -2.5. According to the results of the physical examination, under the guidance of the doctor, the use of calcium tablets, vitamin D and other drugs to supplement calcium, can effectively relieve osteoporosis and other symptoms. On the other hand, the elderly should spend more time in the sun and eat more natural calcium-rich foods such as broccoli and tofu to supplement the body with calcium.

“We often say in Chinese medicine that ‘muscles and bones are of the same origin’. It can be said that bones are ‘sails’, sinews and muscles are’ ropes’. After getting older, tendons are easy to relax, and if you want to sail, you must first pull the rope tight to provide continuous power support for the movement system. Therefore, it is important to maintain good exercise habits to delay the aging process of bones.” “Fan said.

Reasonable exercise can increase bone mineral density, promote calcium absorption, improve joint function, and reduce bone calcium loss to a certain extent. Studies have shown that exercise increases bone mass more significantly in older people than in younger people. Fan Xiaohong said: “The elderly also need to train their muscles and do more resistance training, including push-ups, lifting small dumbbells, barbells, etc., to exercise muscle strength and maintain bone and joint stability.” In addition, you can also do some aerobic training such as jogging and walking, and consciously do some exercise to maintain balance.”

Fan Xiaohong also reminded the majority of middle-aged and elderly people, people over 50 years old in the antagonism of sports is easy to appear injury, and excessive excessive exercise to increase the risk of osteoporosis elderly fracture, so be very careful. At the same time, Fan Xiaohong also reminds young people that osteoporosis is not exclusive to the elderly, if you do not pay attention to the exercise of muscles and bones, long-term calcium deficiency, bone aging may find you in advance. Therefore, to conserve the bones as early as possible, don’t let the bones age before you.