Osteoporosis that means “porous bones,” is a medical disorder that leads to weakness of the skeleton or to the body’s inability to regenerate bones. Consequently, people, who suffer from this issue, are more amenable to fractures with ossa prone to break from falling or sneezing, depending on the extent of disease. The risk factors for osteoporosis can be divided into unchangeable, hormonal, dietary, lifestyle, and related to medical conditions.
Unchangeable risks of the disease consist of belonging to the female sex, old age, Asian race, being close relatives to people with osteoporosis, and having tiny bodies. Hormonal factors include low sex hormones and high thyroid hormones. According to El Hage et al. (2019), dietary causes are made of lack of calcium, eating disorders, and gastrointestinal surgery (p.780). Lifestyle conditions are comprised of smoking, drinking alcohol, and sedentariness. Medical conditions involve lupus, celiac disease, multiple myeloma, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.
To restore patients to optimal health, nurses are recommended to follow a plan that consists of relieving pain, improving bowel movement, and preventing injury. According to Razi and Hershman (2020), nurses are supposed to control the posture of people with osteoporosis and advise them to stay in bed in a side-lying position (p.50). The proper conditions include a firm mattress; meanwhile, patients’ muscles must be completely relaxed as a result of the regulated heat in the room.
Second, increased fluids and a high fiber diet will improve bowel movement and, consequently, a person’s immune system. Third, nurses are supposed to persuade patients into walking, consuming 600 international units of vitamin D daily, and exercising, for example, cycling or swimming. Osteoporosis is a complicated and dangerous disease with some factors beyond the control of a human; meanwhile, its major causes can be taken into consideration, then proper nursing can relieve the problem.
References
El Hage, C., Hallit, S., Akel, M., & Dagher, E. (2019). Osteoporosis awareness and health beliefs among Lebanese women aged 40 years and above. Osteoporosis International, 30(4), 771–786.
Razi, A. E., & Hershman S.H. (2020). Vertebral Compression Fractures in Osteoporotic and Pathologic Bone: A Clinical Guide to Diagnosis and Management (1st ed.). Springer.