Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Paper

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Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a growing public health issue affecting women’s health medically, socially, and economically. Guidelines and initiative programs have been developed to direct the care of postmenopausal osteoporosis and other health diseases. In conjunction with guidelines, Healthy People 2020 was established to provide preventative services and information to improve the health of individuals in the United States. This task is accomplished by collaborating with diverse communities, providing public awareness, providing information to allow individuals to make conscious health decisions, providing measurable health outcomes on a local, state, and national level, and identifying research and data outcomes (HealhtyPeople.gov, 2014).
Healthy People 2020 monitors roughly 1,200 objectives organized into 42 topics which correspond to important public health issues (HealthyPeople.gov, 2014). Osteoporosis is an example of an objective that is discussed within Healthy People 2020. Osteoporosis objectives for Healthy People 2020 will include tracking bone mineral density and use it to measure risk factors for developing the disease and prevention methods to prevent injuries (HealthyPeople.gov, 2013).
Identification, Description, and Definition
When promoting women’s wellness and care management, it is important to be cognizant of a woman’s body and what illnesses are likely to affect the particular population. Postmenopausal osteoporosis is emerging in women’s health because of changes that occur in the fifth decade of life. Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder distinguished by insufficient bone strength described as thin, brittle, or frail. It is often referred to as “silent” because it gradually occurs and eventua...

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... women (ACOG, 2012). Women are more susceptible to fractures because they live longer than men in the United States. Approximately ten million Americans have osteoporosis, and more than thirty-four million have low bone mass (AACE, 2010). Eighty percent of the ten million Americans with osteoporosis include women, majority being postmenopausal (AACE, 2010). In 2005, two million fractures were related to osteoporosis. By age sixty, half of the white, non-Hispanic women in the United States have low bone mass or osteoporosis. Low BMD at the femoral neck is found in 21% of postmenopausal white women, 16% of postmenopausal Mexican American women, and 10% of African American women (AACE, 2010). According to Healthy Women as many as 52% of non-Hispanic Caucasian and Asian women age fifty years and older have low bone mass, increasing their risk for osteoporosis.

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