Often called the "silent disease," osteoporosis progresses painlessly for decades without any outward sign and usually goes undetected until after a bone breaks, usually in the hip, spine or wrist. Osteoporosis (Latin for "porous bone") is a symptomless disease that accelerates the body’s normal bone loss. It casuses people to stoop and shrink in height and leads to weakend bones prone to fracture at the slightest fall, bump or lifting action. Symptoms include brittle bones, hunch back, persistent backache and pain.

Although our skeletons appear solid, bone is a living, growing tissue - a mixture of soft collagen and hard mineral made to be strong but flexible to withstand stress. Throughout lifem bones maintain themselves through a process known as remodelling, in which the old bone is removed and replaced with new. Bone loss and renewal is in balance until early adulthood. The body’s maximum bone tissue, or peak bone mass, is achieved by the late teen years. As we age, bone loss outpaces bone growth and bones gradually becaome thinner and more brittle. Osteoporosis is defined as about 25 percent bones loss compared to a healthy young adult, according to the U.S. National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Although everyone experiences some bone loss with age, few people realize that stooped posture and shrinking (loss of height greater than 1-2 inches) are caused by vertebral fractures due to osteoporosis. Vertebral fractures tend to affect younger people and are more common among women.

It is the hip fractures, most common in older men and women (median age is 80 years), that usually lead to the most serious consequences. Within a year after the fracture, one in three men and one in five women die from complications. Many patients require long-term care and most never return to an active and independent lifestyle. Additional falls and fractures, hospitalization, depression and mechanica failure of the surgical procedure is common.