An overview of osteoporosis, with a table of calcium-rich foods. Its medical significance is that the bone has lost both calcium for strength and matrix for support. The bone becomes too fragile to withstand ordinary stresses, and a fracture typically results. Osteoporosis is a major cause of serious disability in older people, with one in three women and one in five men living to age eighty-five fracturing a hip due to osteoporosis. Another term interchangeably used is osteopenia .
Bone has several reasons for existence in our bodies.
It provides a frame for support, allows us to move around in our environment, protects us from being banged around, and is a storing place for many of the basic chemicals essential for the normal functioning of the body. It's composed of many minerals, the most important being calcium for strength, and 70 percent of it is composed of a soft, supporting material called collagen. Bone is changing and remodeling every minute of the day. As children, our bones grow from growth plates of cartilage at the ends of bones. Bone turnover rates in growing children can be 20 percent yearly.