What is osteoporosis?

What is Osteoporosis?

The bones in our skeleton are made of a thick outer shell and a strong inner honeycomb mesh of tiny struts of bone.
Osteoporosis means some of these struts become thin, which makes the bone more fragile and prone to break after a minor bump or fall. These broken bones are often referred to as fragility fractures. Although fractures can occur in different parts of the body, the wrist, hip and spine are most commonly affected.
Osteoporosis is a chronic disease with late clinical consequences. For this reason it has been termed the “silent epidemic” since there are no associated symptoms or warning signs prior to fracture. Osteoporosis is usually a disease of older age, although it can affect people of any age. Bones are influenced by genetics and lifestyle and bone mass peaks by the time we are in our mid-twenties. This highlights the importance of beginning to take positive healthy lifestyle steps early in life to decrease the potentially disabling effects of osteoporotic fractures in later years.

Your Bones

Bones contain collagen (protein), calcium salts and other minerals. Each bone is made up of a thick outer shell known as cortical bone and a strong inner mesh of trabecular bone which looks like a honeycomb. Bone is alive and constantly changing throughout life. Old, worn out bone is broken down by cells called osteoclasts and replaced by bone building cells called osteoblasts, in a process of renewal called bone turnover. In childhood, osteoblasts work faster enabling the skeleton to increase in density and strength. During this period of rapid bone growth, it takes the skeleton just two years to completely renew itself. In adults the process takes seven to ten years.
Bones stop growing in length between the ages of 16 and 18, but bone density continues to increase slowly until a person is in their mid 20s. At this point the balance between bone demolition and bone construction stays stable. After the age of 35, bone loss increases very gradually as part of the natural ageing process. This bone loss becomes more rapid in women for several years following the menopause and can lead to osteoporosis and an increased risk of broken bones, especially in later life.

Osteoporosis Facts & Figures

•    1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men will have an osteoporotic fracture over the age of 50.
•    The annual cost of osteoporotic fractures to the NHS is £2.3 billion.
•    The cost of osteoporotic fractures to the NHS is £6 per day.
•    There are approximately 230,000 osteoporotic fractures every year.
•    Approximately 1,150 people are dying per month in the UK as a direct result of a hip fracture.
•    The total annual cost of all fractures in the UK equates to the predicted cost of London hosting the 2012 olympics.
   
The information contained on this page is reproduced with kind permission from the National Osteoporosis Society. Please click on the link below to go to their website:


www.nos.org.uk