So, What Exactly is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a Disease of Weak Bones
The word osteoporosis means porous bone. If you looked at healthy bone under a microscope, you would see that parts of it look like a honeycomb. If you have osteoporosis, however, the holes and spaces in the honeycomb are much bigger than they are in healthy bone. And as your bones become less dense, they get weaker and easier to break. Fractures from osteoporosis can occur in almost any bone, but you are most likely to break bones in your wrist, spine, and hip.
Osteoporosis is a Very Common Disease
Ten million Americans already have osteoporosis, and more than triple that number are a high risk. Eighty percent of those who have the disease are women. In fact, a woman’s risk of osteoporosis is equal to her combined risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer.
Many people – including health professionals mistakenly think of osteoporosis as a woman’s disease. But think about it: if 8 of the 10 million people who have osteoporosis are women, then 2 million men have it too. This might surprise you, but a man, older than 50 is more likely to break a bone due to osteoporosis than he is to get prostate cancer.
Osteoporosis is a Silent Disease
Osteoporosis is “silent” because in its early stages it has no symptoms. In fact, many people don’t know they have it until they break a bone. However, a bone mineral density (BMD) test can help your doctor or health care provider detect osteoporosis before you start breaking bones.
Bone Changes Over a Lifetime
Throughout life, your skeleton loses old bone and forms new bone. Children and teenagers form new bone faster than they lost the old bone. In fact, even after they stop growing taller, young people continue to make more bone than they lose. This means their bones get denser and denser until they reach what experts call peak bone mass. This is the point when you have the greatest amount of bone you will ever have. It usually occurs between the ages of 18 and 25.
After you achieve peak bone mass, the balance between bone loss and bone formation might start to shift. In other words, you may slowly start to lose more bone than you form. In midlife, bone loss usually speeds up in both men and women. For most women, the pace really picks up after menopause, when estrogen levels drop sharply.
Osteoporosis occurs when you lose too much bone, make too little of it, or both. The more bone you have at the time of peak bone mass, before bone loss, starts, the better protected you will be against weak bones.
Be Good to Your Bones
You can protect and strengthen your bones at any age. Of course, it’s best to get started when you’re young. If you don’t form enough bone then, you will be at a disadvantage as you age. However, if you are older and you haven’t been trying to protect your bones, don’t be discouraged about the bone you might already have lost. You are never too old to protect your bones. But take action now. Once you start to lose bone density, it’s hard to build it up again.
What Can You Do For Your Bones
The recipe for bone health is simple:
- Get enough calcium and vitamin D, and eat a well-balanced diet
- Do weight-bearing and resistance exercises
- Don’t smoke
- Drink alcohol only in moderation
- Talk to your doctor or health care provider about your bone health
General Information - National Osteoporosis Foundation
Bone Health - Center for Disease Control and Prevention
