Osteoporosis is a seriously underestimated disease. Currently, the number of osteoporosis patients in China is nearly 100 million. "At the recent press conference of the" Expert Opinions on Chinese Osteoporosis, "Xie Zhongjian, Director of the Institute of Metabolism and Endocrinology at Central South University and Vice Chairman of the Osteoporosis and Mineral Diseases Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, emphasized that correct and effective science popularization is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease and a common and frequently occurring disease among middle-aged and elderly people, seriously endangering their health. Data shows that in China, the proportion of patients with fractures caused by osteoporosis each year exceeds 9% of all fracture patients, and there is a trend of increasing year by year. Osteoporotic fractures pose serious risks. According to statistics, the risk of death within 3 months increases by 5-8 times for elderly people after their first hip fracture. The proportion of deaths from various complications within 1 year is as high as 20%, and about half of survivors are unable to take care of themselves. There are still many misconceptions and gaps in the public's understanding of osteoporosis. Liu Bing, Vice President of the Journal of the Chinese Medical Association, said that osteoporosis is known as the "silent killer". Because osteoporosis has no obvious symptoms in the early stages and is easily overlooked, patients often come to the hospital for treatment after a fracture. However, whether one has osteoporosis can still be preliminarily judged from the clues. Experts attending the meeting remind that the following four symptoms may indicate osteoporosis: pain in the lower back and lower limb joints, which intensifies after activity and improves after rest; Shrinkage in height (dropping more than 4 centimeters when younger), spinal deformity, and may be accompanied by hunchback; Respiratory function is limited, resulting in chest tightness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing due to spinal kyphosis and chest deformities; Fracture. Cheng Qun, director of the Osteoporosis Department of East China Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, said that increasing the time of sun exposure and reasonable supplementation of calcium and vitamin D could effectively prevent osteoporosis and reduce the incidence rate. About 10% of vitamin D in the human body is obtained through food intake, while the remaining 90% is obtained through sun exposure. If sufficient sunshine hours cannot be guaranteed in daily life, it is recommended to consider supplementing with appropriate amounts of vitamin D tablets or capsules. Experts remind that women after menopause are more susceptible to osteoporosis. Normal levels of estrogen help maintain normal bone mass and quality, while menopausal women's estrogen levels gradually decrease, leading to severe bone loss and impaired bone quality. According to statistics, approximately one in every three women over the age of 50 suffers from bone fractures due to osteoporosis. Therefore, it is recommended that women over the age of 40 regularly go to regular medical institutions for bone density testing, timely understand their skeletal status, and seek early diagnosis and treatment if necessary to prevent brittle fractures. (New Society)