Throughout a person’s life, processes of destruction of old bone structures and the formation of a new one ( bone remodulation ) constantly occur in the bone tissue. During the period of human development, the process of formation of new structures prevails over the processes of destruction. But already after 30 years, the balance of remodulation becomes negative.
These processes are controlled by hormones – products of various endocrine glands – the thyroid and parathyroid glands, adrenal glands, ovaries, pituitary gland, etc. As a result of various hormonal changes in the body, changes in bone mineralization can also occur.
So, for example, the most common form of osteoporosis in women after menopause is associated with a deficiency of estrogens (female sex hormones). As a result of various reasons, with age, minerals (mainly calcium salts) are washed out of the bones.
Bone beams are no longer supported by supporting structures. It has been proven that even a 10% decrease in bone density leads to a two-fold increase in the risk of bone fracture. By the age of 20–30, the bone density of a person reaches its peak, and by the age of 50–60, bone mass begins to decline, and by the age of 80 it decreases by 20–30% compared to a young age. So it turns out that an elderly person, when falling, is more likely to get a fracture of the spine or limbs than a young one.
Factors predisposing to osteoporosis:
- heredity. Many diseases are based on genetic causes. This also applies to osteoporosis. It is noticed that in women with a fragile physique, a light iris, the risk of osteoporosis is much higher than in other women of the same age. Albino men have a much higher risk of developing osteoporosis than others;
- gynecological problems in women (lack of pregnancy, early cessation of menstruation, menopause);
- fractures of extremities in the past; 4) sedentary lifestyle.
Predisposing factors also include:
- prolonged bed rest (for example, after surgery), a sedentary lifestyle;
- nutritional characteristics (milk intolerance, low consumption of foods containing calcium, increased consumption of animal proteins, highly carbonated drinks);
- bad habits (heavy smoking, alcohol abuse); long-term use of certain drugs; diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, thyroid, parathyroid glands, oncological diseases, etc.
A fairly common disease of the spine is a tumor
The disease does not depend on age and gender. Often, tumors of the spine do not show any clinical signs, i.e., they are asymptomatic. In this regard, it is difficult to diagnose the causes of the disease, since several decades may pass before the diagnosis is made. A tumor of the spine is very rarely primary, often it is a secondary disease (a tumor of the spine is most often a metastasis from other organs).
So predisposing to this disease are all kinds of precancerous and cancerous conditions. Very often, tumors of the spine develop against the background of osteoporosis, i.e., this is also a predisposing factor.