A complete understanding of the disorder is not yet available. At this time, a combination of factors are thought to be responsible for osteoporosis. Composition of Adult Bone To understand how these factors affect bone, bone mass, and calcium balance in the body, one needs to understand bone anatomy and the function of calcium in the body. It is a general misconception that bone develops during youth and then is static or unchanging for the rest of the life cycle. Bone is constantly changing no matter what a person's age.
Bone is made up of water, minerals, protein, and fat.
There are even veins and arteries in bone tissue supplying it with blood carrying necessary nutrients. Bone building and bone destroying are both occurring constantly throughout life. The marvel of normal physiology is that these two opposite processes are held in balance. Osteoporosis is a state of imbalance with more bone being destroyed than is built over a long period of time. The maintenance of calcium balance and bone health in our bodies is complex.