Would you like to learn more about Osteoporosis? This destination takes us through the web site of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and is called Boning Up on Osteoporosis. This site describes the affliction that has been termed, "the silent thief."
This second site regarding osteoporosis comes Dr. F. Michael Groth, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland. About Twenty-five million Americans have or are at risk of osteoporosis. This disease is responsible for over a quarter of a million hip fractures and over half a million vertebral fractures each year. While 80 percent of people with osteoporosis are women, the rate of fractures in men is increasing as the number of people over 85 years of age continues to increase at rates of more than three times the rest of the population. People over 65 years of age who suffer a hip fracture have a mortality rate as high as 20 percent in the year following the fracture. Over half will never return to their baseline functional level. The financial costs associated with osteoporosis exceed $10 billion each year.
This site, produced by the National Institute of Arthritis discusses Hip replacement, or arthroplasty. Arthroplasty is a surgical procedure in which the diseased parts of the hip joint are removed and replaced with new, artificial parts. These artificial parts are called the prosthesis. The goals of hip replacement surgery are to improve mobility by relieving pain and improve function of the hip joint.
