You can also take the online course in Osteoporosis. Below is a short sample of the course content:


Pauline S M Lai1, S S Chua2, S P Chan3
  1 Senior Drug Information Pharmacist (PhD), Pharmacy Unit, University Malaya Medical Centre
  2 Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya
  3 Consultant Endocrinologist and Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya

Introduction

Osteoporosis is a major public health concern worldwide. Although osteoporosis is more prevalent in women, it can also affect men. This disease can occur at any age and in any racial or ethnic group. However, it is more common in postmenopausal women, especially Asians and Caucasians [1]. In the United States (US), 13-18% of women above the age of 50 years have osteoporosis [2]. Although there is limited data on the prevalence of osteoporosis in Asia, it has been estimated that by the year 2050, 50% of hip fractures will occur in Asia due to an increase in the elderly population [3].

 

 

Figure 1: Comparison of normal bone matrix with osteoporosis {Source: [6]}

 
Definition of Osteoporosis
 
In 1994, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined osteoporosis as a “disease characterized by low bone mass and micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue, enhanced bone fragility and an increase in fracture risk” [4] (Figure 1). Typically, osteoporosis is a “silent disease”. There are usually no symptoms until the first fracture occurs [5].As the disease progresses, symptoms may include back pain, fractures, loss of height, skeletal deformity (kyphosis or kyphoscoliosis), neck strain, mid abdominal pain, alterations in bowel functions, such as constipation, and rarely, lung disease [7]. Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease in developed countries [8].

 



The above is an abstract on the Osteoporosis Courseware available online. 

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