She had evidenced increasing kyphosis over the years. She also had senile dementia and was bedridden. This is severe osteoporosis with a compression fracture. The bone was so soft it could easily be crushed by hand. She patient was elderly and also was inactive.
Osteoporosis is a big problem in the elderly, particularly women.
Some factors suggested for the pathogenesis of osteoporosis include decreased skeletal mass in females, decreased estrogens or androgens, reduced physical activity, and decreased calcium intake, but none of these factors offers a complete answer. Osteoporosis from weightlessness is a deterrent to prolonged space travel. Osteoporosis, which is reduction in bone mass, must be distinguished from rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults which are due to failure of bone mineralization with increased osteoid seams in the bone. Vitamin D deficiency in children produces rickets. In rickets, the growing bone is not properly ossified and is weakened, leading to significant deformity.