What is Osteoporosis?

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 inside looks like honeycomb, with blood vessels and bone marrow.

Osteoporosis literally means 'porous bones'. It occurs when the holes in the structure of the bone are not repaired and filled up with new bone and become bigger, making them fragile and liable to break easily. The images to the right show scans of the inside of a healthy and an unhealthy osteoporotic bone.

Osteoporosis is often known as 'the silent thief' because the bone loss occurs gradually without any warning signs until the illness is advanced. In most men and women the bone loss starts around the age of 40 years and continues until the age of 90. However women are often more affected as the bone loss tends to increase after the menopause.