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	Osteoporosis The Bare Bones Facts
-- June 01, 2003 - -- May 1, 2001 - Osteoporosis Education, Treatment, and Prevention Program WHAT IS OSTEOPOROSIS & OSTEOPENIA Before we get into a discussion of Osteoporosis and Osteopenia, some basic introductions are in order. Some BARE BONE FACTS if you will to make sure we all start out on the same page. This will provide some medical and anatomical terminology you may or may not be familiar with. So here we go: Bone make-up: A type of fibrous tissue known as collagen is present in bones. This collagen embeds the minerals calcium and phosphorus as well as smaller amounts of many other materials in between it fiber layers. The collagen gives the bone its shape and shock absorption or springy qualities, and the calcium and phosphorus give the bone strength or hardness. About 60% of bone matter is made up of a combination of calcium and phosphorus. Like the other tissues in your body, bones are ‘living' meaning they have a nerve supply and a blood supply, and they continuously remodel. Trabecular bone: Honeycomb like bone with vertical and horizontal collagen fibers that are deposited along lines of stress. Found in vertebral bodies ( spine), and in the ends of the longer bones, such as the neck of the femur (thigh bone). Trabecular bone is also called cancellous or spongy bone. Cortical bone: The more dense and compact bone. It is found in the shafts of the longer bones and is thicker bone, thus, if a bone breaks in the cortical region, this may indicate a more severe problem of bone loss. Bone density: The amount of calcium present in a crystalline form creates the density or hardness of bone known also as Bone Mineral Density or BMD. While calcium provides the greatest contribution to bone density, calcium is also needed to regulate blood pressure and to contract skeletal muscles as well as the heart. Proper intake of calcium is thus essential in maintaining healthy muscle activity as well as bone density. Bone density can also be altered by the presence of Vitamin D needed for the absorption of calcium. Bone density can also be affected by hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, which affect the activity of the osteoblasts, bone building cells, and osteoclasts, bone destroying cells. Mechanical forces that keep bones regenerating to withstand torque are another factor in bone density. Bone mass: The total amount of bone in the skeleton. It is controlled by the remodeling cycle. Trabecular bone mass peaks in the mid-twenties, and cortical bone mass peaks between 30 and 35. After menopause, women may lose 2-3% per year, which is a rate that is 6x faster than men. Well, now that we have finished that, lets get back to our topic. What is Osteoporosis and Osteopenia. Osteopenia is defined as a loss of approximately 10 to 25% of the bone mass, or density, which one had at their "peak" (between 25 and 35 years of age). It is a warning sign of a possible future of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is defined as "porous" bone or a loss of greater than 25% of the "peak" bone mass. Porous bone is more easily broken being more weak and fragile. Osteopenia and Osteoporosis are NOT Osteoarthritis. which is defined as a non-inflammatory degenerative joint disease characterized by degeneration of articular cartilage, that cartilage which is on the surface of the boned where they meet in joints, and changes in the synovial membrane, a tissue which lines and surrounds the joints and produces a fluid for lubrication of a joint. WHAT CAUSES OSTEOPOROSIS Bone is constantly changing - that is, old bone is removed and replaced by new bone. During childhood, more bone is produced than removed, so the skeleton grows in both size and strength. The amount of tissue or bone mass in the skeleton reaches its maximum amount by the mid-30s. At this point, the amount of bone in the skeleton typically begins to decline slowly as removal of old bone exceeds formation of new bone. If an environment exists where this removal process exceeds the production process by the percentages noted in the definitions listed above. The conditions of Osteoporosis or Osteopenia develop. There is no known singular event which causes osteoporosis, but there are several factors which seem to contribute to the environment under which it develops. While women lose bone mass rapidly in the years following menopause, by age 65 or 70, women and men lose bone mass at the same rate, and calcium absorption decreases in both sexes. When bone loss is excessive, bone can become fragile and break. Once bone is lost it cannot, as yet, be replaced. Bones that have weakened are more likely to fracture. Take a look at these statistics; Low bone mass prevalence: Out of over 250 million Americans, approximately 28 million are diagnosed with low bone mass. Of that group 80% are women. Rates of bone loss: If a woman is sedentary (after menopause) she can expect to lose about 1-2% of bone mass per year over the next ten or so years. Fracture prevalence: 50% of all women and 13% of all men over the age of 50 will have an osteoporosis fracture in their lifetime, which means osteoporosis fractures are responsible for over 1.5 million fractures annually. Stay tuned for more, or contact us at the number above for more information. While you're at it, ask about our Osteoporosis and Fall Prevention Class. You might also check our the downloadable education and exercise packet in our online store.
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