I was able to warn Agnes that this could be the first sign of osteoporosis. She too needed a comprehensive workup. In high school or shortly thereafter, women's bones are at their strongest. There is a steady loss of bone from age thirty onwards, but the loss accelerates after the menopause. Men can develop the disease, but do so ten to fifteen years later than women.
Bone comes in two types, spongy and cortical or tube-like.
The spongy bone of the spine suffers weight loss first. Thus, there is a loss in height. This bone disease can be dangrous. Bad things can happen to hasten the disease. Inactivity will leech out the strength of the skeleton.