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Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a condition of decreased bone mass. This leads to fragile bones which are at an increased risk for fractures.
In fact, it will take much less stress to an osteoporotic bone to cause it to fracture. The term "porosis" means spongy, this describes the appearance of osteoporosis bones when they are broken in half and the inside is examined.
Normal bone marrow has small holes within it, but a bone with osteoporosis will have much larger holes. This picture shows a bone with osteoporosis on the top with large spongy holes, and a normal bone on the top with normal small passageways.
In severe osteoporosis, this can be exaggerated much more than shown here!
Osteoporosis is different from most other diseases or common illnesses in that there is no one single cause. The overall health of a person's bones is a function of many things ranging from how well the bones were formed as a youth, to the level of exercise the bones have seen over the years. During the first 20 years of life, the formation of bone is the most important factor, but after that point it is the prevention of bone loss which becomes most important. 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.
There are certain risk factors that have been identified, and with the development of Bone Densitometry, early detection and treatment can be very effective in managing this natural process we all experience. The World Health Organization has established criteria for clinical guidelines in making the diagnosis of osteoporosis, but before you start to look these over, why not take some time and ask your primary physician questions regarding osteoporosis and bone densitometry testing. Knowledge is power, and there is wealth of information available in print and in osteoporosis – related links on the internet.