What is Osteoporosis?

Symptoms

Drug treatments

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is an aging-related condition where decreasing bone density puts patients at higher risk of fractures. Causes include increased bone resorption compared to bone formation, which overall reduces the bone density. This bone remodelling process is constant, and is susceptible to various factors including exercise and hormones.

What are the symptoms of Osteoporosis?

Symptoms are not obvious, and the condition is discovered upon bone fracture, often in the back, hip or forearm. Treatment includes weight-bearing workouts, hormones if necessary, and drugs where a fracture has already occurred.

Bone density increases into early adulthood and starts decreasing into middle age with no interventions. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation may or may not have an effect on developing osteoporosis. Weight training does stimulate bone density increase, so can redress osteoporosis, while taking hormones e.g. following removal of ovaries or testes, or if estrogen or testosterone are below optimal level for bone density maintenance for any other reason, can prevent osteoporosis development.

Drug treatments