What is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a condition that means your bones are weak, and you’re more likely to break a bone. Since there are no symptoms, you might not know your bones are getting weaker until you break a bone!
A broken bone can really affect a woman’s life. It can cause disability, pain, or loss of independence. It can make it harder to do daily activities without help, such as walking. This can make it hard to participate in social activities. It can also cause severe back pain and deformity.
What bones does osteoporosis affect?
Osteoporosis can happen to any of your bones, but is most common in the hip, wrist, and in your spine, also called your vertebrae. Vertebrae are important because these bones support your body to stand and sit upright. See the picture below.
What things cause me to have a higher chance of getting osteoporosis?
Things that can increase your chances of developing osteoporosis include:
- being female
- small, thin body (under 127 pounds)
- family history of osteoporosis
- being postmenopausal or of an advanced age
- Caucasian or Asian race, but African American and Hispanic women are also at significant risk for developing the disease
- abnormal absence of menstrual periods or having an eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia that can cause menstrual periods to stop before menopause, and loss of bone tissue from too much exercise
- low testosterone levels in men
- a diet low in dairy products or other sources of calcium and vitamin D
- inactive lifestyle
- long-term use of glucocorticoids (medicines prescribed for many diseases, including arthritis, asthma, and lupus) anti-seizure medications; gonadotropin releasing hormone for treatment of endometriosis; aluminum-containing antacids; certain cancer treatments; and excessive thyroid hormone
- cigarette smoking and drinking too much alcohol
