This site provides a collection of resources including tools for patients and other informative sources on osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is the most prevalent bone disease affecting aging adults. An estimated 1.5 million osteoporosis-related fractures occur each year in the United States. As with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, osteoporosis is a silent disease that may progress undetected for years until severe skeletal deterioration is recognized or clinical fracture occurs.
Osteoporosis is a significant side effect of long-term treatment with steroids.
Long-term steroid treatment for asthma, arthritis, low back pain, and other chronic and persistent intermittent conditions is a significant cause of bone loss in adults, and may interfere with bone growth in the young. Over the past two decades, osteoporosis has emerged as a disease that can be diagnosed early, treated and even prevented. Technologies are now available to evaluate the risk of an osteoporosis-related fracture, and therapies are currently available to prevent and treat osteoporosis.