The Stages of Osteoporosis
In literal translation, the word osteoporosis means “porous bones”. It is a progressive disease that causes bones to lose mass and become thin and fragile, with many air-filled holes inside, much like a sponge. Bones naturally have small air-filled pockets in their structure. That is what makes the light but strong at the same time. When those holes start increasing in size, the solid bone mass decreases, which makes the bones more fragile. This is osteoporosis.
Who Suffers from the Stages of Osteoporosis
This condition is typical for women of advanced age, but older men and younger women may also suffer from it. The symptoms are mostly invisible and the condition is only confirmed after a bone fracture occurs. It can only be determined by a bone mineral density scan.
In early stages of osteoporosis people rarely experience any symptoms like pain or any other that may signal that they have a problem. Symptoms typically become visible after the disease has already progressed. Some of the most common symptoms of osteoporosis are: loss of height, frequent fractures, stooped posture and back pain.
Like we mentioned before, the only way to determine that a person has osteoporosis is through bone density scan. That is why physicians recommend regular screening for risky categories of people, like: postmenopausal women, women over 65 and men over the age of 70, no matter the risk factors, women who enter menopause too early, postmenopausal women who stopped taking hormones, any person over the age of 50 with a history of broken bones and so on.
The chances of a person to develop osteoporosis is closely related to the bone mass the person has obtained through their early life, as well as how fast they lose it in later life. As people grow, their bone mass builds up and the accumulated mass peaks by the late 20s. After this age the bone mass starts decreasing, and the more bone mass people have, the less they are prone to developing osteoporosis later on in life.
The density of the bones is based mainly on the amount of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and other minerals they are made of. Depriving the bones of any of this minerals can lead decrease of strength of the bones and ultimately, to osteoporosis.
Some risk factors that contribute to the development of osteoporosis are not controllable. These are: race (Asians and Caucasians are more prone), family history, having small body frame and being female. The controllable risks include: smoking, low intake of calcium and other minerals, eating disorders, excessive drinking of alcohol and sedentary lifestyle.
There are four generally acknowledged stages of osteoporosis which include people who are around ages of 30 to 35 because the bones lose density with the same speed they build it. It has no visible symptoms.
Fortunately, the advances in medicine prevent from many women to reach stage four, since the condition is detected in much earlier stage. There are several tests that can be performed to catch this condition before it begins.
