About Osteoporosis

What is osteoporosis?

If you’re a woman over fifty, chances are you’ll have osteoporosis in your lifetime. It is also likely you’ll suffer a fracture as a result of the disease. Osteoporosis, a condition marked by weak and brittle bones, affects more than 10 million people in the United States, most of who are female. It is a silent disease until you experience a fracture. Many fractures that are caused by osteoporosis can be prevented.

Osteoporosis is defined as a condition in which the amount of bone and the quality of bone is not normal (quality refers to the structure of the bone which allows it to be strong and flexible at the same time so it can support you and resist fracture).

Signs & Symptoms

You are at risk for osteoporosis if any of the following apply to you. You can remember these signs and symptoms by using the mnemonic SLENDER®.

Slim Build
Low calcium intake or little exercise
Early menopause or even a history of irregular periods
No pregnancies
Dermatologic / ethnic background (very light skinned people are at greater risk than darker skinned people)
External factors such as smoking or excess alcohol consumption and drugs such as steroids and anti seizure medication as well as excess thyroid hormone
Relatives with osteoporosis (particularly your mother).

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Conditions

There are a number of conditions that cause rapid loss of bone and lead to bones that are more fragile and more likely to fracture. These conditions include calcium and vitamin D deficiency, certain types of cancer, transplanted organs, certain types of liver disease, the prolonged use of the blood thinner heparin (or mast cell disease, a condition in which heparin like substances are made by the body in excess), certain endocrine diseases, including certain pituitary disorders, adrenal disorders, and an overactive thyroid. Certain types of kidney disorders, including one in which the kidneys leak calcium that can lead to kidney stones and bone loss, and inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis are also conditions that may be associated with low bone mass.
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What things make you more likely to have a fracture?

Factors that make you more vulnerable to fracture can be remembered by the pneumonic FAR TRIP®. They include:

Frailty (such as inability to get out of a chair without help)
Age (older people are more likely to fracture) and adiposity (thin people are more likely to fracture)
Tendency to fall particularly to the side
Relatives who have fractured
Radiologic (x-ray) evidence of deformity of the spine, including partial painless fracture of the spine
Increased length of the part of the hip called the femoral neck which can be seen in people of Asian descent
Prior history of fracture

A tool available on the internet called FRAX (fracture risk assessment) uses the bone density results and certain personal information such as height, weight, fracture history, habits, and steroid use to calculate your risk of fracture and need for medical therapy if you have osteopenia, a condition where the density is not normal but not as severe as in osteoporosis which is defined as a bone density approximately 25% lower in the spine than a group of young people who are at their peak bone density.

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