Osteoporosis

Overview

Palestinian Guidelines for diagnosing and treatment of osteoporosis will be developed. Those women at risk for developing bone fracture will be identified using FRAX. A platform will be developed and guidelines will be Palestinian postmenopausal women will validated by WHO to be adopted by the Ministry of Health. The platform will available for Palestinian women to be used through an application to identify those women at risk and direct them to be helped.

Our Team

  • Akram Kharroubi

    Ph.D.

  • Hisham Darwish

    Ph.D.

    Mahmoud Abu Hadid

    Ph.D.

    Mutaz Akkawi

    Ph.D.

    Yumna Shehada

    Ph.D.

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    Recent Submissions

    Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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      Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and bone turnover markers in Palestinian postmenopausal osteoporosis and normal women
      (Springer, 2017-01-26) Kharroubi, Akram; Saba, Elias; Smoom, Riham; Bader, Khaldoun; Darwish, Hisham
      Summary This study evaluated the association of vitaminD and bone markers with the development osteoporosis in Palestinian postmenopausal women. Even though vitamin D deficiency was very high for the recruited subjects, it was not associated with osteoporosis except for bones of the hip. Age and obesity were the strongest determining factors of the disease. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of bone mineral density (BMD) with serum vitamin D levels, parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, obesity, and bone turnover markers in Palestinian postmenopausal women. Methods Three hundred eighty-two postmenopausal women (≥45 years) were recruited from various women clinics for BMD assessment (131 women had osteoporosis and 251 were normal and served as controls). Blood samples were obtained for serum calcium, PTH, 25(OH)D, bone formation (N-terminal propeptide (PINP)), and bone resorption (serum Cterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX1)) markers. Results Women with osteoporosis had statistically significant lower mean weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and serum calcium (p < 0.05) compared to controls. No significant differences were detected between the mean values of bone turnover markers (CTX and PINP), 25(OH)D, and PTH of the two groups. Women with vitamin D deficiency (severe and insufficiency) represented 85.9% of the study subjects. Multiple and logistic regression showed that age and BMI significantly affected BMD and vitamin D had a significant association with BMD only at the lumbar spine. BMI was positively correlated with BMD and PTH but negatively correlated with vitamin D. Logistic regression showed that the odds ratio (OR) for having osteoporosis decreased with increasing BMI (overweight OR = 0.11, p = 0.053; obese OR = 0.05, p = 0.007). Conclusions There was no direct correlation between BMD and PTH, bone turnover markers, and vitamin D except at the lumbar spine. A negative correlation between BMD and age and a positive correlation with BMI were observed. The protective effect of obesity on osteoporosis was complicated by the effect of obesity on vitamin D and PTH.
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      Prevalence and awareness of osteoporosis among postmenopausal Palestinian women
      (Springer, 2010-05-18) Abd-Alhameed, Intissar; Saba, Elias; Darwish, Hisham M.
      Summary The prevalence and awareness of postmenopausal osteoporosis was assessed among 569 postmenopausal women randomly selected from the population. Osteoporosis was assessed based on bone mineral density (BMD) values at three indicative sites. The results indicate a significant prevalence of the disease among this fraction of the population with a poor knowledge of its risk factors. Introduction Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a major health problem at the individual and population levels. Assessment of its prevalence and awareness of risk factors provide the basis for health plans to control the disease. No previous studies have been done in our population. A cross-sectional study including 569 postmenopausal women showed a significant prevalence of osteoporosis with a poor awareness of risk factors. Methods Included in the study were 569 randomly selected postmenopausal women (≥49 years of age). BMD was measured in 505 subjects at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Awareness was evaluated using a special questionnaire. Results Osteoporosis affected the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip in 24%, 14% and 29.7% of subjects, respectively. There was a significant negative correlation (p<0.001) between age and number of years since menopause and BMD at all the sites evaluated. Conversely, BMD increased at the three sites as weight, height and BMI increased. There was a significant positive correlation between BMD at the three sites and the physical characteristics of the subjects (weight, height and BMI) (p<0.001 at the hip and femoral neck, and p=0.05 at the lumbar spine). BMD was higher at the lumbar spine and femoral neck among subjects aware of the disease (0.893 and 0.746 g/cm2, respectively) than among subjects unaware of the disease (0.835 and 0.712 g/cm2, respectively). This investigation is the first among Palestinian women in this region. It indicates the urgent need for a comprehensive national programme to reduce the incidence of osteoporosis. Conclusion Postmenopausal osteoporosis is significant among the Palestinian population and there is a poor awareness of the risk factors.