Osteoporosis: Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment

Osteoporosis is a medical condition that causes porous and weak bones leading to fractures. This article discusses its causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment. It affects about 1.2 million people in Australia and is more common in women after menopause. The symptoms include stooping, loss of height, and fractures that occur more easily than expected. The causes include age, reduced estrogen levels, and lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, and low intake of calcium and vitamin D. Osteoporosis has a serious impact on quality of life, happiness, and health. Prevention includes regular weight-bearing and resistance exercises, healthy eating, limiting alcohol intake, and quitting smoking. Treatment includes taking drugs to increase vitamin D and calcium levels in the body.

Running head: BIOLOGY
Osteoporosis
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Introduction
Osteoporosis is can be defined as the medical condition which means porous bones and
the weak bones leads to the increased tendency of fractures especially in the regions of a wrist,
spinal vertebrae and hip. The tissues of the bones are getting constantly renewed and the new
bones replace the old bones. The body maintains the density of the bones and the integrity of the
structure and the crystals (Francis, 2013). Osteoporosis is selected as a topic for this study
because it affects a person in their late 20s and after about 35 years of age.
Osteoporosis present status in Australia
Osteoporosis is one of the common diseases in Australia and it is estimated that about 1.2
million people are actually suffering from osteoporosis. Also, it is found that the around 6.3
million people are suffering from the low bone density (Osteoporosis.org.au, 2018).
Symptoms of the osteoporosis
The development of osteoporosis generally progresses slowly over several years. It is
important to note that the symptoms and the signs can be seen only after an impact that causes
fracture of bones (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2018). The signs that can be considered for a person that
have osteoporosis are as follows:
 Being stooped
 Loss of height gradually
 Fracture of bones that occur much more easily than it is expected.
 Pain in the back areas that are caused by the collapsed vertebra and fracture.
Healthy bones are capable of withstanding the impact of a fall from a standing height, however,
the if a bone breaks then there is a possibility of fragile bones. The most common injuries that

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the people experience during osteoporosis are wrist fractures, hip fractures and the fractures in
the spinal cord (vertebrae) (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2018).
Causes of osteoporosis
There are a number of causes associated with the osteoporosis and some are modifiable
while others are not. The unavoidable reasons are as follows:
 After attaining the age of mid-30s especially after menopause, the density of
bones in Women starts decreasing.
 The reduced production of oestrogen levels makes it harder for the bones to
reproduce.
 There is an increased likeliness of the occurrence of osteoporosis and it increases
when a close family member is diagnosed with the osteoporosis and hip fracture
(Banu, 2013).
Lifestyle and the diet choices fall into the category of the modifiable risk factors and it
includes: tobacco smoking; excessive intake of alcohol; immobility and inactivity; eating
disorders like the orthorexia, bulimia nervosa and anorexia; low levels of intake of vitamin D,
magnesium, calcium and the other dietary factors; immobility and inactivity. Disease and health
conditions also affect the levels of hormones and it includes the Cushing’s syndrome,
hyperparathyroidism and hyperthyroidism (Hudec & Camacho, 2012).
Impact of osteoporosis on health and society
Impact on health- Fractures occurring due to osteoporosis leads to a serious impact on
quality of life, happiness and person’s health. Due to the increased efficiency of osteoporosis, a
person also experiences increased dependence on others, disability and reduced mobility and

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pain. Vertebral fractures lead to immobility, deformity, loss of height and back pain (Cauley,
2013).
Impact of society- osteoporosis poses a big socio-economic burden and this causes huge costs
on the surgical care, hospital care and medical care. Rising the indirect costs results in a patient
to lose their independence and seek nursing care. In several countries, the hospitalizations that
are occurring is responsible for the socio-economic burden. the burden is even high because the
number of hospitalizations occurring due to osteoporosis is far more than the other types of
diseases (Iofbonehealth.org, 2018).
Osteoporosis prevention and treatment
For the prevention of osteoporosis, regular exercise is essential and the exercises must be
weight-bearing exercises, resistance exercises. Healthy eating includes the balanced which is a
recommended for each and every people that suffer from cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and
osteoporosis (Pai, 2017). Other general factors include the limiting the alcohol intake and
quitting smoking. There are other ways for the treatment of osteoporosis and it can be related to
taking drugs that act to increase the vitamin D and calcium levels in the body. The healthcare
team that is looking after a person's treatment can also suggest to change the diet or take
supplements for the same (Kling, Clarke & Sandhu, 2014).
Conclusion
Thus, from the above conclusion, it can be stated that osteoporosis is a common disease all over
the world. The disease causes the bones to become brittle and this leads to increased risk of
breakage of bones. This disease occurs when the bones start to lose the calcium and the minerals
at a faster rate than the body can actually replace.

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Reference
Banu, J. (2013). Causes, consequences, and treatment of osteoporosis in men. Drug design,
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Cauley, J. A. (2013). Public health impact of osteoporosis. Journals of Gerontology Series A:
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Francis, R. M. (Ed.). (2013). Osteoporosis: pathogenesis and management. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Healthdirect.gov.au. (2018). Osteoporosis symptoms. Retrieved from
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/osteoporosis-symptoms
Hudec, S., & Camacho, P. (2012). Secondary causes of osteoporosis. Endocrine practice, 19(1),
120-128.
Iofbonehealth.org. (2018). Impact of Osteoporosis | International Osteoporosis Foundation.
Retrieved from https://www.iofbonehealth.org/impact-osteoporosis
Kling, J. M., Clarke, B. L., & Sandhu, N. P. (2014). Osteoporosis prevention, screening, and
treatment: a review. Journal of women's health, 23(7), 563-572.
Osteoporosis.org.au. (2018). About Osteoporosis | Osteoporosis Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.osteoporosis.org.au/about-osteoporosis
Pai, M. V. (2017). Osteoporosis Prevention and Management. The Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology of India, 67(4), 237-242.