Osteoporosis

What exactly is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a disease that degrades the bones and lessens their density. Its name literally means “porous bone.” During the progression of osteoporosis, your body can’t create new formations as quickly as your body reabsorbs bone cells.

Osteoporosis leads to porous, brittle, and fragile bones that break easily. Often, you won’t realize you’ve been experiencing bone loss until your first fracture.

What causes osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is inextricably tied to age. When you’re young, your body rapidly creates new bone and consistently outpaces bone loss. After your early 20s, though, your bone production slows down. You’ve usually reached your peak bone mass by 30, after which you begin to experience bone loss.

Not every person develops osteoporosis as they age. If you had a high peak bone mass as a young person, you’re less likely to develop osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis has a number of other risk factors, including:

Gender

Women are far more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, especially if they are past menopause. Lowered estrogen levels tend to weaken bones.

Family history

If a parent or a sibling had or has osteoporosis, you’re more likely to get it.

Race

Caucasians and people of Asian descent are more likely to develop osteoporosis than others.

Body frame

People with small frames are more likely to develop osteoporosis than people with larger frames. This is because they’re likely starting with a lower peak bone mass.

Factors like eating disorders, low calcium intake, and gastrointestinal issues can also increase your risk of osteoporosis.

You can lower your risk for osteoporosis by making adjustments like adding more protein and calcium into your diet, taking vitamin D supplements, maintaining a healthy weight, and/or exercising.

How do you treat osteoporosis?

To treat osteoporosis, Berks Women’s Health offers multiple strategies which will be offered based on your medical history, dietary preferences, and lab data.