Poor bone health responsible for 83% of spinal fractures: Experts

Much like valentines, fathers and mothers, osteoporosis has a day of its own too. October 20 is celebrated as World Osteoporosis Day. Elaborating on the importance of this day for people of all age groups, Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI) has been organising awareness drives and campaigns across India on the day.

Dr Bharat Dave, ASSI member and director of Spine Hospital, Ellisbridge, said on Tuesday, "Around 83% of all spinal fractures are caused by osteoporosis. However, these are initially often dismissed as simple back pain or arthritis.”

Also, it is estimated that worldwide one spinal fracture occurs every 22 seconds. Conservative estimates suggest that India will have 36 million osteoporosis patients by 2013.

He said that 20% of women and 10-15% of men aged above 50 years suffer from osteoporosis, but there is no required awareness, diagnosis as well as preventive and treatment measures about the disease.

Dave said, "There are two interesting features about osteoporosis in India - the high incidence among men and the lower age of peak incidence as compared to western nations. The ratio of incidence of osteoporotic hip fractures between females and males in India is 1:1, while in the western world it is 3:1. Also the peak incidence of osteoporosis in India occurs at the age of
50-60 years."

Doctors are of the opinion that when patients are recommended surgical intervention for a spinal fracture, patients drop out owing to 'psychological fear' of going under the knife. This dropout rate is estimated to be around 45%. If patients receive effective therapy then the risk of vertebral fractures can reduce by 30-70%.