What is Osteoporosis?

Normal Bone
Bone affected by Osteoporosis

The word ‘Osteoporosis’ literally means ‘porous bone’. It is a condition where a person gradually loses bone material so that his or her bones become gradually more fragile. As a result, they are more likely to break.

Bone is made of fibres of a material called collagen filled in with minerals- mainly calcium salts – rather like reinforced concrete. The bones of the skeleton have a thick outer shell or ‘cortex’, inside which there is a meshwork of ‘trabecular’ bone