Issue 2 - Summer - Providence Washington - Providence Health ...

These
b
nes
ARE MADE FOR
WALKING
Osteoporosis
is preventable
in many
cases. Know
the signs and
treatment
options, and
take these
steps at all
ages to keep
your bones
healthy and
strong for life
At a rest stop along I-84,
Genevieve Crandall stepped out of the
car. It was summer 2011, and the Florida
resident was enjoying her vacation—
which included celebrating her grandson’s
graduation in Spokane and taking
a trip with her daughter to Portland to
watch a tennis tournament.
In an instant, the independent lifestyle
she had enjoyed for 86 years was
swept away. “A gust of wind picked my
mother up and threw her 10 feet backward,
breaking her left hip, pelvis and
wrist,” recalls Stephanie Pappas Butler.
At a nearby hospital, surgeons did a
partial hip replacement and set her
wrist. She returned to Spokane with her
daughter and began physical therapy.
But her pain increased. Butler took
her mother to see Carla Smith, MD, a
surgeon with Providence Orthopedic
Specialties and the principle investigator
on two bone studies at Providence
Medical Research Center. Dr. Smith
discovered that when Crandall fell, she
had also broken her right hip and had
multiple fractures to her pelvis. With
adjustments in her daily therapy program,
however, she began to recover.
Indication of Osteoporosis
Before Crandall was strong enough to
return to Florida, she fell again, this
time from a standing position. She was
rushed to Sacred Heart Medical Center
& Children’s Hospital, where Dr. Smith
performed surgery to repair her broken
right hip.
“Healthy bones are strong,” says Dr.
Smith. “So when Genevieve fell from
a standing position and broke her hip,
there was strong indication of osteoporosis,
a disease that makes bones fragile
and likely to break.”
Crandall is not alone. According to
the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons (AAOS), osteoporosis and its
precursor—low bone density (referred
to as osteopenia)—occur in more than
44 million people in the U.S. The AAOS
says that fragility fractures have become
nearly epidemic among older Americans
with more than 2 million fractures
occurring each year—“more than heart
attacks, strokes and newly diagnosed
breast cancer combined.”
Like so many who have experienced
hip fractures, Crandall’s broken bones
resulted in a dramatic change in lifestyle.
Always adventuresome and independent,
the avid golfer and onetime
cast member of the 1944 Betty Grable
film Pin Up Girl found herself in need
of assisted living and daily help from
her daughter.
Osteoporosis is not curable, but if
properly diagnosed it is treatable. And
that’s the catch. “Osteoporosis is silent,
14 ● Summer 2012 Heart Beat