The answer is everybody needs to know how to build and maintain healthy bones. Whether you are school aged, a young adult or an older person, male or female, everybody can take action to protect his or her bone health. If you already have osteoporosis, there are ways you can minimise the effects. These and many more questions are answered. Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones lose calcium, become fragile and tend to break more easily.
Osteoporosis afflicts one in two females and one in three males over the age of sixty in Australia.
The hormonal changes that accompany menopause accelerate the loss of calcium. Your bones comprise a hard outer shell covering a less dense tissue resembling honeycomb. When osteoporosis develops, the outer bone 'shell' becomes thin and weak, and the 'honeycomb' develops larger holes, weakening the bones and increasing the risk of fracture. Serious complications may occur when bones are fractured, particularly in hip fractures. An analogy is often drawn between your bones and a bank.