What is osteoporosis? - London Osteoporosis Clinic

Osteoporosis is common, and it may show no symptoms. It can have devastating impact, but it IS treatable.

In the UK alone there are over 1,100 deaths that occur every month as a result of a hip fracture. At the London Osteoporosis Clinic, we think this is completely unacceptable – especially when many of these fractures could have been prevented.

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become fragile and if not treated, can progress painlessly until, seemingly from nowhere, a bone breaks.

Osteoporosis is common

There are over 500,000 osteoporosis related fractures in the UK per year, yet many fractures can be prevented by treatment.

The bones in our skeleton are made of a thick outer shell and a strong inner mesh filled with collagen (protein), calcium salts and other minerals. The bone structure is lattice-like.

Osteoporosis occurs when the spokes of the lattice thin and break. Although osteoporosis usually affects the whole skeleton, the most common fractures are in the wrist, spine and hip.

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Key facts about osteoporosis

1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 in the UK will have osteoporosis
Every minute, someone suffers an osteoporosis-related fracture
An estimated 3 million people in the UK suffer from osteoporosis
Each year there are some 80,000 hip fractures (projected to be over 110,000 in 2016), 50,000 wrist fractures and 40,000 spinal fractures from osteoporosis
Osteoporosis costs the NHS and government over £2.2 billion each year or £6 million each day (Reference: National Osteoporosis Society)

Signs and symptoms

There typically are no symptoms in the early stages of bone loss. But once bones have been weakened by osteoporosis, you may experience signs and symptoms that include:

Back pain, caused by a fractured or collapsed vertebra
Loss of height over time
A stooped posture
A bone fracture that occurs much more easily than expected
Life with osteoporosis – patient videos

Causes of Osteoporosis

Your bones are in a constant state of renewal — new bone is made and old bone is broken down. When young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks down old bone and your bone mass increases. Most people reach their peak bone mass by their early 30s. As we age, bone mass is lost faster than it’s created. How likely you are to develop osteoporosis depends partly on how much bone mass you attained in your youth. The higher your peak bone mass, the more bone you have “in the bank” the less likely you are to develop osteoporosis as you age.

As well as a low peak bone mass, there are other factors that can contribute to the development of osteoporosis:

A sedentary lifestyle (e.g lack of exercise, not being active)
Drinking excess alcohol
Smoking
Low sun exposure and lack of vitamin D
Low calcium levels
Inflammatory conditions (e.g arthritis)
Genetic variation
Drugs, such as steroids
Apoptosis (cell death)
Menopause – particularly early menopause

Life with Osteoporosis

The following video shows a National Osteoporosis Society landmark study of impact of osteoporosis and fragility fractures on people’s lives:

#osteoporosis is preventable

A hip #fracture results in limited function and disability