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What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to weaken and fracture easily. The normal bone density is lessened making the bones brittle. The term osteoporosis means "porous bones". Simple everyday movements in people with osteoporosis can cause fractures. The most common fractures received by people with osteoporosis are fractures of the spine, hip or wrists.

Signs and Symptoms of Osteoporosis

In the beginning stages of osteoporosis there are normally no symptoms. As the bones become weaker, pain may be experienced in all areas of the back. An individual may appear to shrinking or appear noticeably shorter. Posture may develop into a hunched or stooped look. In later stages of osteoporosis fractures begin to occur.

Causes of Osteoporosis

Bone strength depends on factors such as density and size. As bones affected by osteoporosis loose more and more minerals, their internal structure hollows out causing the bones to become weak and brittle.

All the reasons osteoporosis occurs have yet to be determined. It has been determined that osteoporosis develops somewhere in the process of how bones are made.

Bone remodeling or bone turnover is the process in which new bone replaces or remodels old bone. Old bone is broken down and new bone takes its place. This process occurs over a period of two to three months. The bones in young people tend to produce new bone at a higher rate than old bone deteriorates. Young people generally have a higher bone mass. After the age of thirty the bone remodeling process reverses. Old bone is broken down faster than new bone can replace it.

In women, during menopause when estrogen levels drop, bone density is lost rather quickly. The decrease of estrogen is the leading cause of bone loss for women.

A person's risk of developing osteoporosis is determined largely on how much bone density their body can hang on to at its height and how rapidly the bone density decreases with age. Increasing calcium and vitamin D intake between the ages of 25 35 can lower the chances of having osteoporosis later in life. Exercising on a regular basis can also factor into the chances of a person having osteoporosis.

Who is at Risk of Developing Osteoporosis?

Women are more likely of having osteoporosis than men.

The risk of osteoporosis increases with age.

If you are white you are at a greater risk of developing osteoporosis.

People with a family history of osteoporosis are at an increased risk.

Thin people have a greater risk of developing

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