Abstract

Osteoporosis affects about 200 millionsubjects in the world and is responsible for 8.9 millionfractures each year. The combined annual cost of allosteoporotic fractures in Europe has been estimated to be 30billion Euros. The frequency of osteoporotic fractures isrising in many countries, in particular because of theincreased longevity of the population. In Italy, around 4million of women and more than 800,000 men are exposedto a high fracture risk. The National Healthcare Systemspends about 500 million Euros for hospitalization andchirurgical treatment of hip fractures and costs related torehabilitation are even greater. The situation is more criticalin southern Italy, where the incidence of elderly people ishigher than in the other regions. Therefore, there is a strongneed for the assessment of the best practices in preventionand treatment of osteoporosis. In this paper, after anoverview of the socioeconomic impact of osteoporosis inItaly, with particular focus on Apulia region, the mostimportant techniques used to assess the fracture risk arebriefly described. In general, they fall into two majorcategories: physical measurement of skeletal mass andassessment of clinical risk factors. Moreover, the mostcommonly used pharmacological agents for the treatment ofosteoporosis are reported. In conclusion, for a correctmanagement of the disease, it would be necessary toencourage the widespread use of cheap and non-invasivescreening techniques for early diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Autore Pugliese

• Conversano Francesco , Casciaro Sergio

Tutti gli autori

• M. Muratore; F. Conversano; M. D. Renna; V. Villani; S. Casciaro

Titolo volume/Rivista

Non Disponibile

Anno di pubblicazione

2014

ISSN

Non Disponibile

ISBN

978-92-990073-5-8

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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