Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis, which means “porous bones,” causes bones to become weak and brittle — so brittle that even mild stresses like bending over, lifting a vacuum cleaner or coughing can cause a fracture. In most cases, bones weaken when you have low levels of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals in your bones.
Osteoporosis is a silent disease in which suffers are unaware of it’s presence until a bone breaks. These broken bones, also known as fractures, occur typically in the hip, wrist, and spine. Spinal fractures can cause vertebra to collapse, which may initially be felt or seen in the form of severe back pain, loss of height, or spinal deformities.
While women are four times more likely than men to develop the disease, men also suffer from osteoporosis.
Risk factors include:
Getting older
Being small and thin
Having a family history of osteoporosis
Taking certain medicines
Being a white or Asian woman
Having osteopenia, which is low bone mass.
