Description

Osteoporosis:- What is osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens your bones. It makes your bones thinner and less dense than they should be. People with osteoporosis are much more likely to experience broken bones (bone fractures). Osteoporosis is a disease in which your bones become weak and are likely to fracture (break). The disease can develop when your bone mineral density and bone mass decrease. It can also happen if the structure and strength of your bones change. Osteoporosis is called a "silent" disease because it doesn't usually cause symptoms. You may not even know you have the disease until you break a bone. This could happen with any bone, but it's most common in the bones of your hip, vertebrae in the spine, and wrist. Your bones are usually dense and strong enough to support your weight and absorb most kinds of impacts. As you age, your bones naturally lose some of their density and their ability to regrow (remodel) themselves. If you have osteoporosis your bones are much more fragile than they should be, and are much weaker. Most people don’t know they have osteoporosis until it causes them to break a bone. Osteoporosis can make any of your bones more likely to break, but the most commonly affected bones include your: • Hips (hip fractures). • Wrists. • Spine (fractured vertebrae). Osteoporosis symptoms The early stages of osteoporosis don’t cause any symptoms or warning signs. In most cases, people with osteoporosis don’t know they have the condition until they have a fracture. If symptoms do appear, some of the earlier ones may include: • receding gums • weakened grip strength • weak and brittle nails The most common “symptom” is suddenly breaking a bone, especially after a small fall or minor accident that usually wouldn’t hurt you. Even though osteoporosis doesn’t directly cause symptoms, you might notice a few changes in your body that can mean your bones are losing strength or density. These warning signs of osteoporosis can include: • Losing an inch or more of your height. • Changes in your natural posture (stooping or bending forward more). • Shortness of breath (if disks in your spine are compressed enough to reduce your lung capacity). • Lower back pain (pain in you lumbar spine). What causes osteoporosis? Osteoporosis happens as you get older and your bones lose their ability to regrow and reform themselves. Your bones are living tissue like any other part of your body. It might not seem like it, but they’re constantly replacing their own cells and tissue throughout your life. Up until about age 30, your body naturally builds more bone than you lose. After age 35, bone breakdown happens faster than your body can replace it, which causes a gradual loss of bone mass. If you have osteoporosis, you lose bone mass at a greater rate. People in postmenopause lose bone mass even faster.

Key Specification Osteoporosis

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