What is Osteoporosis?

It is a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break. If not prevented or if left untreated, osteoporosis can progress painlessly until a bone breaks. These broken bones, also known as fractures, occur typically in the hip, spine, and wrist.

While women are four times more likely than men to develop the disease, men also suffer from osteoporosis.

Any bone can be affected, but of special concern are fractures of the hip and spine. Spinal or vertebral fractures also have serious consequences, including loss of height, severe back pain, and deformity.

Diagnosing Osteoporosis

There is no method of determining the actual structure of bones without actually removing a piece during a biopsy (which is not practical or necessary). Instead, the diagnosis of osteoporosis is based on special x-ray methods called densitometry. Densitometry will give accurate and precise measurements of the amount of bone (not their actual quality). This measurement is termed "bone mineral density" or BMD.

Causes

Osteoporosis is different from most other diseases or common illnesses in that there is no one single cause. Anything which leads to decreased formation of bone early in life, or loss of bone structure later in life will lead to osteoporosis and fragile bones which are subject to fracture.

Factors Involved in Maintenance of Adult Bone Mass

The same factors which encouraged bone formation as a youth and teenager affect the maintenance of bone mass during the adult years. The most important factors responsible for maintaining bone mass are

• calcium intake
• reproductive hormone status
• normal parathyroid gland function
• physical activity

Prevention

Doctors have recommended the following weight bearing exercises to prevent osteoporosis:

• walking
• running
• jogging
• dancing

Ways to tackle osteoporosis

Increasing calcium intake

One of the easiest and most effective methods of increasing your calcium intake is to take an oral calcium supplement daily. There are several forms of oral calcium readily available over the counter

Exercise

30 minutes of vigorous exercise about 3 to 5 times per week. During the growing years of adolescence and teen years, attention must be paid to dietary calcium if peak bone mass is to be achieved

• Drugs
• anti-resorption drugs
• bone forming drugs