Osteoporosis, which means “porous bone,” is a condition in which the bones become fragile and prone to break under the slightest trauma. Any bone can be affected with these fractures, but they most typically occur in the hip, spine and wrist.
To understand how osteoporosis occurs, it’s important to understand the normal life cycle of bone. Bone is a living tissue; its cells die and are replaced regularly in a process called bone turnover. From childhood into young adulthood, your body produces more than enough cells to replace those that die, resulting in stronger, denser bones.
By the time you are 25, your bones are as strong as they will ever be (called peak bone mass). Your bone turnover remains fairly stable for several years. Then, at about age 40, bone cells start to die at a more rapid rate than new cells are produced. This starts a slow decline in bone mass.
After menopause, a drop in estrogen levels in women results in a rapid decline in bone mass. Men, too, experience a decline in bone mass as sex hormone levels decline, but this decline is typically less rapid and less severe. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, women are four times more likely than men to develop the disease. By age 80, women have lost about 40 percent of their peak adult bone mass, and men have lost about 25 percent.
