Introduction
Osteoporosis is a bone condition characterized by a decrease in mass, resulting in bones that are more porous and more easily fractured than normal bones. Fractures of the wrist, spine, and hip are most common; however, all bones can be affected. White females are the most susceptible, but other risk factors include low calcium intake; inadequate physical activity; certain drugs, such as corticosteroids, and a family history of the disease.
Any bone can be affected, but of special concern are fractures of the hip and spine. A hip fracture almost always requires hospitalization and major surgery. It can impair a person's ability to walk unassisted and may cause prolonged or permanent disability or even death. Spinal or vertebral fractures also have serious consequences, including loss of height, severe back pain, and deformity.
Review
Osteoporosis has haunted women since the dawn of history—Egyptian mummies from 4,000 years ago have been found with the telltale dowager's hump.
Osteoporosis was first described in the nineteenth century by German pathologists to distinguish between bone diseases i.e. osteomalacia, osteoporosis and osteitis fibrosa cystica. In 1941 osteoporosis was defined by Fuller Albright et al. as a condition in which there is a lack of bone tissue, but that tissue which remains is fully calcified (Woolfe, Dixon, 1988). This definition helped to differentiate osteoporosis from osteomalacia (a condition involving delayed or failed bone matrix mineralization). However, this definition was not entirely appropriate as it didn't identify skeletal failure as opposed to skeletal lack. Osteoporosis was first officially recognized as a disease by the World Health Organization in 1994.
The most common form of the disease, primary osteoporosis, includes postmenopausal or estrogen-deficient, osteoporosis (Type I), which is observed in women whose ovaries have ceased to produce the hormone estrogen; age-related osteoporosis (Type II), which affects those over the age of 70; and idiopathic..................
