What is it?

Osteoporosis is when the bones become less dense. The bones seem the same size and shape, but are weakened. They can break more easily than normal.

What is the cause?

Your body is constantly breaking down and rebuilding your bones. Bones are mostly made of calcium. With age, the body doesn’t rebuild bones quite as fast as they break down. Everyone older than 35 begins losing calcium from their bones. Each year, the bones get a little weaker. If you are a woman, you have more risk of weak bones than a man. This is because women live longer and start with smaller, weaker bones than men. Also, at menopause, a woman's body stops making the female hormone estrogen. Lack of estrogen increases loss of bone.

There are other causes for this problem that can affect both men and women. Not being active can be a problem. Smoking and having a poor diet will also increase your chance for this problem. If your diet is low in calcium and vitamin C, it can lead to osteoporosis. You can get calcium in cheese, milk, and dark green vegetables. Long-term illnesses or alcoholism also add to your risk. If you use cortisone or prednisone for a long time it may also be a problem. Osteoporosis may run in families.

What are the symptoms?

If your calcium loss becomes serious, you may start breaking bones. This can happen even with small injuries. The most common breaks happen in the wrists, hips, and back. The bent-over appearance of some elderly men and women is from compression fractures of the spine. These cause you to lose height and good posture. This condition often causes chronic back pain.

How is it treated?

In the early stages, treatment is aimed at preventing osteoporosis from getting worse. We suggest regular exercise such as walking or light weight lifting. We suggest adding calcium and Vitamin D to your diet. If you smoke, stop. Limit your alcohol intake to no more than one drink a day for women. Limit alcohol to no more than one to two drinks a day for men. A drink is one 12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, one wine cooler, or one shot of hard liquor.

We may prescribe medicines to add bone strength or rebuild bone. In some cases we may suggest estrogen, a female hormone, after menopause to prevent bone loss.  We may suggest testosterone for some men with other specific causes of osteoporosis.

We want to help you prevent broken bones. Using a cane or walker may help prevent falls if you feel unsteady on your feet. Do not stoop. Bend your knees and keep your back straight to prevent back fractures. Use rubber safety mats in your tub or shower. Wear flat rubber-soled shoes.

What can I expect?

Treatment can often slow or stop the progress of this disease. Bone-building medicines may even reverse it. There is no cure. You will need to continue treatment indefinitely.

What to watch for.

Call us if you have new back pain or if your back pain is not getting better.