Overview
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).
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:
The sooner a healthcare provider diagnoses osteoporosis, the less likely you are to experience bone fractures. Ask a healthcare provider about checking your bone density, especially if you’re over 65, have had a bone fracture after age 50, or someone in your biological family has osteoporosis.
How common is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is common in people over 50. Experts estimate that half of all people assigned female at birth and 1 in 4 people assigned male at birth over 50 have osteoporosis.
Studies have found that 1 in 3 adults over 50 who don’t have osteoporosis yet have some degree of reduced bone density (osteopenia). People with osteopenia have early signs of osteoporosis. If it’s not treated, osteopenia can become osteoporosis.
Symptoms
Even though osteoporosis does not create symptoms, you may notice a few changes in your body that indicate your bones are losing strength or density. These warning indicators of osteoporosis may include:
Causes
Osteoporosis develops as you age and your bones lose the ability to renew and mend themselves. Your bones are living tissue, much like the rest of your body. It may not appear so, but they are constantly replenishing their own cells and tissue throughout your lifetime. Until roughly age 30, your body naturally produces more bone than it loses. After age 35, bone breakdown occurs quicker than the body can repair it, resulting in a steady decrease of bone mass.
Osteoporosis risk factors
Some medications or surgical procedures may increase your risk of osteoporosis.
Diagnosis
A bone density test is used by a healthcare provider to diagnose osteoporosis. A bone density test is an imaging examination that determines the strength of your bones. It employs X-rays to determine how much calcium and other minerals are present in your bones. DEXA scans, DXA scans, or bone density scans are all terms used by healthcare providers to describe bone density testing. All of these are different names for the same test. A bone density test employs low-level X-rays to determine the density and mineral content of your bones.
Management and Treatment
Your healthcare physician will recommend a mix of treatments to slow down bone loss and strengthen existing bone structure. The most crucial aspect of treating osteoporosis is avoiding bone fractures. The most frequent osteoporosis therapies are exercise, vitamin and mineral supplements, and osteoporosis medications.
Prevention
Conclusion
Osteoporosis is a prevalent but avoidable disorder that weakens bones and raises the risk of fracture, particularly in older adults. Understanding the risk factors—both modifiable and non-modifiable—is critical to prevention. Early detection through bone density testing can help guide effective treatment options, which may include lifestyle changes, drugs, and, in some situations, surgical procedures.
Dr. Rohit Lamba, Head of the Department & Senior Consultant
Bone, Joint Replacement And Orthopaedics
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