Osteoporosis is a disorder of bone structure. The altered bones have a soft and weak frame, thus fragile, increasing the risk of a break.
Think of it as a building without the proper frames on the inside to hold it up.
The spine is the most common area for a fragility fracture to occur. These fractures can be predictors of future fractures elsewhere in the body (canaries in the coal mine, per se).
There are many causes of osteoporosis: advanced age, hormone imbalance (post-menopausal women are at highest risk), medical disorders, medication, steroids, tobacco use, malnutrition, underweight, stature, endurance training, ant-acids, family history, etc.
Diagnosis
A DEXA (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) scan is the most common way for a diagnosis. Osteopenia is weakened bone, but not as weak as osteoporosis (think of it as “osteoporosis jr.”).
Treatment
Treatment options include weight-bearing exercise, balancing the hormone issue if that is at the root of the problem, Vitamin D/Folate/Magnesium supplementation, as well as medications (either taken by mouth or injection) that either decrease the breakdown of bone/build bone up.
All treatment options depend on the type/location of stenosis and a custom treatment plan is recommended for each and every patient.
Please reach out to your primary care doctor if you need further work-up or for further treatment of osteoporosis.
