Osteoporosis

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is condition that features loss of the normal density of bone.  Osteoporosis leads to literally abnormally porous bone that is more compressible like a sponge than dense like a brick.  This disorder of the skeleton weakens the bone leading to an increase in the risk of breaking bones (bone fracture).  The room you are in has four walls, a roof, and a floor, similar to the inside of your bones.  Imagine you sitting in a vertebra.  In the room with you is a large system of scaffolds that support the walls.  Osteoporosis is slow loss of this scaffolding.  As the scaffolding disappears the support for the walls diminishes.  In addition, the remaining scaffolding may be weakened.  As a result, bones become fragile and break easily.  Even a sneeze or a sudden movement may be enough to break a bone in someone with severe osteoporosis.

Normal bone is composed of protein collagen and calcium.  Osteoporosis depletes both the calcium and the protein from the bone, resulting in either abnormal bone quality or decreased bone density.  Bones that are affected by osteoporosis can fracture with only a minor fall or injury that normally would not cause a bone fracture.  The fracture can be either in the form of cracking (as in a hip fracture) or collapsing (as in a compression fracture of the vertebrae of the spine).  The spine, hips, and wrists are common areas of osteoporosis-related bone fractures, although fractures can also occur in other skeletal areas such as the ribs.. 

Description

Osteoporosis is a serious public health problem.  Some 28 million people in the United States are affected by this potentially debilitating disease, which is responsible for 1.5 million fractures (broken bones) annually.  These fractures, which are often the first sign of the disease, can affect any bone, but the most common locations are the hip, spine, and wrist.  Breaks in the hip and spine are of special concern because they almost always require hospitalization and major surgery, and may lead to other serious consequences, including permanent disability and even death.

For more information about Osteoporosis please visit the National Institutes of Health.  On the left hand side of their web page click Osteoporosis.