Health A-Z: Osteoporosis

It’s estimated that three million in the UK have osteoporosis, also known as brittle bone disease. Women are far more likely to develop osteoporosis than men, partly because after menopause, we lose the bone-protective effect of the hormone oestrogen, causing our bones to become more fragile.

Solid as your bones may seem, they’re actually living tissue, and when you’re young, they grow and repair quickly. But by your late twenties, your bones stop building density, and from around the age of 35 you start to gradually lose bone mass. This speeds up after menopause. The result? Your bones become more porous, so they can break easily.

The good news is there are lots of ways to protect your bones against osteoporosis. Although you can’t build bone mass past your mid-thirties, you can protect the bone you have and stop it losing density, so you’re less likely to experience fractures.

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Health A-Z: Osteoporosis

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Find out what osteoporosis is by reading this entry on our Health A-Z series.

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Healthy Magazine

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Healthy Magazine

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