Causes and Risks Factors of Osteoporosis

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Introduction: What is Aging?

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aging is a reflection of any and all changes that occur to a person during their lifetime. The rate of aging is largely depended on a persons lifestyle, choices, and genetic makeup. These lifestyle choices include but are not limited to eating habits, how active a person is, and smoking. There are many diseases and disorders that are attributed to aging, and they can negatively affect a person’s outwardly physical features as well as their internal body systems and processes. Some lead to death directly and others are a gateway to a terminal disease. One of those diseases is Osteoporosis which is a bone disease that affects or will affect 40 million people in America, according to the NIH. In this paper, I will discuss what Osteoporosis is, its causes and risk factors, its diagnosis, various treatments, and prevention.

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a disease that greatly affects the skeletal system. According to Dr. Ross Andel at the University of South Florida, this is a disease defined by the dramatic decrease in bone density. We usually reach maximum bone mass at about 30 years old, and in the years following, the rate of bone degeneration increases as the rate of bone formation decreases. A dramatic increase in bone loss starts after menopause when estrogen levels decrease for women, and after testosterone levels decrease in men; effects are seen around age 50 for women and later on for men. Osteoporosis can be referred to as “porous bone” because while a healthy bone does have small honeycombed shaped holes in them, the bones of a person with Osteoporosis has much bigger holes. These larger holes causes the bones to be brittle and...

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7. "What Is Aging?" National Institute on Aging. National Institutes of Health, Nov. 2011. Web. 19

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8. "What Is Osteoporosis?Fast Facts: An Easy-to-Read Series of Publications for the Public."NIH

Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases NAtional Resource Center. National Institutes of

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9. "What Is Osteoporosis?" National Osteoporosis Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

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