Pronounced os-tee-oh-puh-ROH-sis
Also known as Brittle bone disease, Thin bones
Osteoporosis is loss of bone density that leaves bones fragile enough to break from a minor fall or even a cough. It causes no symptoms until a fracture happens, which is what makes it dangerous.
In Orthopedics
Bone is living tissue, constantly dismantled and rebuilt. Until roughly the age of thirty the rebuilding wins and bone mass accumulates; afterwards the balance slowly reverses. Osteoporosis is that loss going far enough that the internal architecture of the bone thins and the structure gives way under loads it should tolerate.
It is silent until something breaks. The characteristic fractures are the wrist, the hip, and the vertebrae — and a spinal fracture may present only as height loss or a gradual stoop rather than as a sudden injury. A break from a fall at standing height in an older adult is the classic signal, and it warrants investigation rather than being treated as bad luck.
Bone density is measured by a DEXA scan, a low-dose that produces a score against a young adult reference. Treatment combines adequate calcium and vitamin D, weight-bearing and resistance exercise, attention to fall risk in the home, and — where the risk is high enough — medicines that slow bone loss.
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