Why Is Osteoporosis a Serious Disease?

Osteoporosis is a condition which causes your bones to weaken and become brittle, increasing your risk of serious fractures (such as spinal fractures or a broken hip). Approximately 10 million people in the United States have osteoporosis, a debilitating but treatable bone disease.

Significance

• The serious nature of osteoporosis largely stems from the progressive damage caused to your bone tissue and increasing loss of bone density if left untreated.

Complications

• Serious potential complications includes hip and spinal fractures (both of which can result in serious disability or death from complications after surgery). Any bone, however, can be affected by osteoporosis.

Facts

• Osteoporosis-related complications and consequences are among the leading reasons that people enter nursing homes. Approximately 50 percent of patients with hip fractures are left without the ability to walk independently.

Consequences

• Consequences of osteoporosis-related fractures often include severe back pain, diminished height and deformity. You may also lose your ability to walk or perform regular activities without assistance, or experience disability.

Compression Fractures

• Fractures, particularly in the spine, may occur without any injury or fall precipitating them since your vertebrae (bones in your back) may become increasingly weak and begin to compress. Fractures caused by compression can result in extreme pain and a long recovery process.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of osteoporosis often do not emerge until the disease has progressed. Symptoms include loss of height, stooped posture, neck pain, lower back pain, bone pain/tenderness and fractures with no apparent cause.