Osteoporosis

Anatomy and Physiology

Osteoporosis and its Importance to Nutrition

Osteoporosis is classified as the bone disease that typically leads to an increased risk of fracture. Bones become weak and brittle during the process, which is caused by the loss of calcium. As an individual ages, he or she loses more bone(s) than the bodies can create and cancel out. Osteoporosis is commonly misunderstood as an illness for women, but in actuality, the problem is very common for men as well. The disease is the most common skeletal disease associated with aging. It can be caused by a family history of osteoporosis, one’s hormone composition, age, food consumption, and how one lives his/her lives.
Osteoporosis is also a bone condition caused by a decrease in mass, resulting in bones that are more porous and more easily fractured than normal bones. All bones can be affected but fractures are most common in the wrist, spine, and hip. There are many other risk factors and they are low calcium intake; inadequate physical activity; certain drugs, such as corticosteroids, and a family history of the disease. Osteoporosis can be divided into two and they are primary osteoporosis and secondary osteoporosis.
The primary osteoporoses are as follows; we have idiopathic osteoporosis which is a rare disorder of unknown cause that affects premenopausal women and men who are middle-aged or younger. Then we have postmenopausal or estrogen-deficient in women that are caused by osteoporosis Type I, and is observed in women whose ovaries have ceased to produce the hormone estrogen. Then we have osteoporosis Type II, which is age related, affects those over the age of 70. The secondary osteoporosis may be caused by bone disuse as a result of paralysis or other conditions, including weightlessness in space; endocrine and nutritional disorders, including anorexia nervosa; specific disease processes; and certain drug therapies. There are medications and hormones that are used to slow down the bone...