What is osteoporosis?

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a condition of the skeleton in which the bone mass is reduced to a point which is an increased risk of fracture with minimal or even no trauma. With increasing age the risk of hip fractures rapidly increases. Fractures of the hip are particularly common in postmenopausal women because after the menopause, the rate of bone loss is accelerated. One woman in four will have had an osteoporotic fracture by the age of seventy and one in two by eighty. Fractures can cause death. Fracture of the hip has been estimated to result in 30,000 deaths each year in the United States. By 1984 the annual cost of treating hip fractures was $7 billion.

A woman at the menopause has a lifetime risk of 15% of having a fracture of a hip. This risk is e quivalent to the combined risk for breast, uterine (womb) and ovarian cancer. A bone density scan at the menopause can provide a reasonable prediction of the likelihood of osteoporosis in later life. Bone density scanning technology has become extremely accurate. 

Crush fractures of the vertebrae are thought to be three times as common as hip fractures. These fractures result in decreased height and increasing curvature of the spine. A much loved member of my family told me that as a result of such curvature she had difficulty looking up. This made her feel demoralised and reduced her self-esteem.

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