Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis has two main keywords which are “Osteo” and “Porosis” in which both are gotten from Greek. Conceptually, “Osteo” means “Bone” while “Porosis” means “porous or hole”. Combining the two words means “Bone porous”.

Human Body

Medically, bone is a highly specialized framework of our body and it is characterized by its rigidity, hardness, power of regeneration and repair. Bones protect several organs of the body and help in production of red and white blood cells in the bone marrow.

Basically, bone is made up of three cells of the body which are:

• Osteoblasts
• Osteocytes
• Osteoclasts

Osteoblasts are involved in bone matrix synthesis and subsequent mineralization.

Osteocytes normally sense mechanical strain, cracking and trigger bone remodeling.

Osteoclasts are only cell in the body that resorb bone (dissolve bone).

Human body at birth have appropriately 270 bones present in which many of these fuse together during development, making it a total of 206 separate bones in the adult. In human beings, the largest bone is “Femur or thigh bone” which is found in the upper leg and the smallest bone is “Stapes,” found in the middle ear.

Normal bone marrow has small holes in it but bone with “Osteoporosis” have much larger holes thereby making the bone to be weak and brittle. This weakness and brittleness lead to severe pains, poor posture and problem in movement.

Causes

Osteoporosis can be caused by an insufficient level of calcium, Vitamin D and phosphate that are the major component of bone formation in the body, gender (it is mostly seen in women that have reached their menopause as the result of a decrease in the level of the female hormone “oestrogen” which is significant for healthy bone) and excess smoking and alcohol.

Solution

Osteoporosis can be controlled by adequate intake of diets that contain minerals such as Calcium and phosphorous, regular exercise and also by the use of medications like calcium supplements as they will help to prevent bone loss and strengthen your already weak bones.