New Delhi: Osteoporosis is a disease where the bone becomes more porous, its strength reduces, and it becomes more prone to fractures. So bone undergoes continuous remodeling, and there is shedding of old bone and there is the formation of new bone. So variance conditions that lead to either an increased shedding of the bone or a reduced formation of the bone can result in osteoporosis. There are several hormones which influence the bone metabolism and can cause osteoporosis. Important role to play in this.
How do hormones influence osteoporosis risk?
In an interaction with , Dr. Himika Chawla, Senior Consultant – Endocrinologist, PSRI Hospital, New Delhi, explained the crucial role of hormones in osteoporosis risk.
“First of all, we talk about post-menopausal osteoporosis, which is the most common cause of osteoporosis in females, and this is particularly seen after menopause. So after menopause, the level of sex hormones in females reduces, which is the estrogens, because the ovary goes into senescence, and reduction of the estrogen hormones results in osteoporosis after several years of menopause, and this becomes more severe for people who do not take adequate calcium and vitamin D supplementation after menopause. Similarly, if there is hypogonadism or failure of ovaries because of any reason, and in males, if there is again hypogonadism, which is failure of testes because of several reasons,” said Dr Chawla.
“Hypopituitarism, both in males and females, can result in osteoporosis because of deficiencies of the sex hormones, which are critically involved in bone metabolism. Also, people who have hypopituitarism, which is a condition where there is failure of the pituitary gland. Or pituitary gland is the master endocrine gland that controls all the other endocrine glands, which are the adrenal, the ovaries, the testes, and the thyroid. When there is a failure of this gland because of different reasons, it could be a tumor or it could be a failure of the gland. So hypnotism also results in a reduction in the level of the sex hormones, and this can result, again, in osteoporosis,” the expert added.
How does stress affect osteoporosis risk?
Apart from this, the cortisol hormone, which is also called a stress hormone, can be increased in the body because of several reasons. It could be increased because of diseases like adrenal tumors, or, you know, tumors in the pituitary which are produced, produced in cortisol hormone. This can increase bone shedding, and it can also cause a reduction in bone formation overall, resulting in osteoporosis. This could also result from long long-standing use of steroids in patients with autoimmune diseases. It can also be used actually, by a lot of indigenous practitioners.
It’s an abuse of steroids which is done, and this can also result in osteoporosis, apart from that very important hormone that regulates bone metabolism, the parathyroid hormone. This parathyroid hormone is produced from the parathyroid glands, which are situated behind the thyroid glands in the neck. And these parathyroid glands, regulate bone metabolism. But whenever there is a tumor formation in the parathyroid glands or a parathyroid adenoma, there is too much parathyroid hormone in the body, and this results in an increased rate of bone shedding, and this heightened state of bone shedding or bone loss results in osteoporosis, because the bone formation certainly lags, and this is again an important cause of osteoporosis.
Apart from this, hyperthyroidism or an excess of thyroid hormone in the body can also result in osteoporosis because it’s also associated with an increase in the shedding of the bone, and the bone formation cannot match up to the state of shedding because of a heightened state of overall increase in the bone metabolism and hyperthyroidism also can cause osteoporosis. So these are the several causes or hormones that can influence bone formation and bone shedding and can cause osteoporosis, which is an imbalance between the shedding and the bone formation. Whenever the shedding is shedding, speed is increased or the formation cannot happen at the rate it is required to or it cannot match the formation.
Cannot match the shedding in the bone remodeling cycle, the bone ends up getting osteoporosis, which makes it more porous, which makes the bone lose its strength, and most importantly, makes the person prone to fractures, particularly fragility fractures, fractures that can happen with trivial trauma, with less than ordinary trauma, which is not supposed to actually cause a fracture.
