Overview

You have probably heard of an elderly woman falling and breaking her hip. But it might have been that the bone in her hip may have been so fragile that an ordinary movement such as walking made it break, causing her to fall. Or the fall itself, which wouldn't have injured a younger person, caused the injury. She probably has osteoporosis. With osteoporosis, bones become fragile, making it easier for the bones to crack and break. The condition is more common in women than men. People with advanced osteoporosis often fracture or break the hip, spine or wrist. A bone break is serious for an elderly person.

Six months after a hip fracture, only 15 percent who develop a hip fracture can walk across a room without help, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. A hip fracture almost always requires staying in the hospital and getting major surgery. Spinal or vertebral fractures can lead to a loss of height, severe back pain and deformity. Vertebra collapse on each other, causing a severe curve in your spine. This is called the dowager's hump because you are hunched over. This can be painful.

Osteoporosis is a major threat for 44 million Americans. More than half of people older than 50 have the condition. Ten million Americans already have the disease and another 34 million have low bone mass, which increases their risk for the disease. Of those who already have the disease, 2 million men are afflicted. One in two women and one in four men older than 50 get a fracture as a result of osteoporosis.

Bone is living tissue, giving you the support for muscles, protecting your organs and storing the calcium for strong bones. Your diet and exercise habits have a major impact on your constantly changing bones. Your bones grow the fastest in the teenage years. Even though they stop growing in length, they continue building density until your 30s. Your bones never stop forming and reforming tissue.

Later in life, bones begin to break down faster than new bone can be made. Bone loss is worsened in women when their bodies stop producing estrogen, a hormone that helps protect bones.

Prognosis

Although osteoporosis is a progressive disease without a cure, medications are used to slow down bone loss and even help rebuild bone strength. Eating calcium-rich foods and doing more weight-bearing exercise also helps slow bone loss and helps prevent the disease.

More on Osteoporosis

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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.