What Is Osteoporosis?

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What Is Osteoporosis?

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Answer 1

Osteoporosis is the medical term for a condition in which the adult bones become brittle and prone to breaking, even with only light trauma.

The disease develops from middle age onwards, particularly in women, although it can also be a feature of some genetic diseases. It tends to occur after the menopause, when hormonal changes increase the loss of calcium from bones. The condition arises when the breakdown of bone proceeds at a rate faster than new bone is formed. The bone becomes weak and unable to withstand stress. Bones can break just by sitting in a chair, or turning around too quickly.

Doctors recommend that women try to cut their risk of developing osteoporosis by remaining active throughout their lives and by eating a diet that is rich in calcium. The movement through exercise puts the bones under a healthy amount of stress and encourages bone formation to continue, even after the menopause.

Answer 2

Osteoporosis is defined by the World Health Organization as either a bone mineral density at a 2.5 standard deviation below peak bone mass as per 20-year old person standard as measured by DXA or any fragility fracture. It is a disease in which bones become delicate and thus are more likely to fracture. The bone mineral density is lowered, the amount of non-collagenous proteins changes and the bone micro architecture is disrupted.

Both men and women can suffer from osteoporosis, but because it is affected by hormones, it is more common amongst post menopause women. It affects all bones of the body, but most affected are the hip, spine and wrist. If a person fractures his or her hips, which is the most common fracture among patients of osteoporosis, hospitalization and surgery become unavoidable. It can disable a person permanently or lead to death. When affecting the spinal column it can result in severe back pain, deformity and loss of height.

Answer 3

Osteoporosis is a bone condition marked by a decrease in mass, making the bones to be more porous and more vulnerable to fractures than normal bones. People suffering with this disease commonly have fractures of the wrist, spine, and the hip but all bones can be affected. Osteoporosis is more common in females than males. Low calcium intake; inadequate physical activity; certain drugs, such as corticosteroids and a family history of the disease are generally blamed for its occurrence.
Primary osteoporosis (Type 1) or oestrogen-deficient osteoporosis is the most common form of the disease. It is witnessed in women whose ovaries have stopped producing the hormone oestrogen. Age-related osteoporosis (Type II) affects people over the age of 70.
Idiopathic osteoporosis is a rare disorder of bones and affects pre menopausal women and middle-aged or younger men. Secondary osteoporosis is generally caused by paralysis or other conditions, including weightlessness in space; endocrine and nutritional disorders.
Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis for post menopausal women include synthetic oestrogen or progestin therapy, ingestion of calcium and other nutrients and weight-bearing exercise. Raloxifene is also used. All these drugs increase bone density making the bones stronger than before but they carry side effects which vary from drug to drug.