SUMMARY
Osteoporosis is a disease of bone. It simply means porous bone. The consequence of having weak bone or osteoporosis is having a fracture. These are termed insufficiency fractures and usually occur in the hip, spine, pelvis or forearm. Although the curved spine that typifies severe osteporosis is often minimized by being thought of as a normal part of aging or
by association with certain loveable old relatives , it can be a very devastating disease. Half of all people who suffer a osteoporosis-related hip fracture end up in the nursing home and 25% die.
DIAGNOSIS
Osteoporosis is a silent disease. Making a diagnosis by symptoms would mean waiting for a painful fracture of the spine or hip. X-ray can show osteoporosis. After about 20% bone loss and x-ray will show less dense or less white bone. But, determining how dense bone is on x-ray is too subjective. The best way to measure bone density and diagnose osteoporosis is by a bone densitometer. This is a specialized x-ray connected to a computer that calculates bone density. It is compared to the bone strength of the average 35-year old woman and given a number called a T-score.

PREVENTION

TREATMENT