{"id":736,"date":"2015-08-31T11:16:13","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T11:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersfield-physio-clinic.co.uk\/?p=736"},"modified":"2021-07-28T16:37:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T16:37:03","slug":"what-is-osteoporosis-and-how-can-we-prevent-and-treat-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersfield-physio-clinic.co.uk\/home-page\/2015\/08\/31\/what-is-osteoporosis-and-how-can-we-prevent-and-treat-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Osteoporosis and How Can we Prevent and Treat It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”0|” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]\r\n\r\nOsteoporosis literally means porous bones. It occurs when the structure on the inside of the bone becomes thin and fragile, causing the bone to weaken with the risk of breaking more easily, often following a minor bump or fall.\r\n\r\nBones are made up of a protein called collagen, calcium salts and other minerals. Each bone has a thick, outer shell called cortical bone and a strong inner mesh of bone, which looks like a honeycomb and is called trabecular bone. It is this trabecular bone which becomes thin and fragile, weakening the bone structure.\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]\r\n\r\nBone is alive and constantly changes throughout life. Old, worn out bone is broken down by cells called osteoclasts and is replaced by bone building cells called osteoblasts. In children the osteoblasts work very fast so that the \"b2ap3_thumbnail_bones\"skeleton can increase in size, density and strength. At around the age of 18 bones stop growing in length but their density increases until the late 20\u2019s. At this stage, the activity between the osteoblasts and osteoclasts stabilises until the mid 30\u2019s. After this age bone loss increases very gradually as part of the natural ageing process which can lead to osteoporosis and an increased risk of fractures (broken bones) especially in later life. Women are particularly susceptible as bone loss increases more rapidly for several years following the menopause.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nOsteoporosis is often a \u201csilent\u201d condition and the first sign may be an unexpected fracture following a minor fall. Most commonly, osteoporotic fractures occur in the hips, wrists and spine. Wrist and hip fractures are usually the result of a fall whereas in the spine, a fracture can occur suddenly with acute pain, or can be undetected, only discovered after an X-ray when a patient presents with an increased curvature of the spine or a reduction in their height.\r\n\r\n\"b2ap3_thumbnail_spine\"<\/a>\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”18″ text_text_color=”#7d78b9″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]\r\n\r\nWho is at Risk of Osteoporosis?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]\r\n\r\nIt is estimated that around\u00a03 million people in the UK have osteoporosis. One in two women and one in five men over 50 will develop it.<\/strong> Women lose bone material more rapidly than men, especially after the menopause when their levels of oestrogen fall.\r\n\r\nThe following situations may also lead to excessive bone loss and so increase your risk of developing osteoporosis.\r\n