Osteoporosis is a bone disorder causing weak and brittle bones that even some mild stress such as coughing or bending over or a fall can cause fracture. Hip, wrist and spine are the most common areas where fractures can occur.

Symptoms of osteoporosis depend upon the site involved. Symptoms include back pain, loss of height over time, stooped posture, easily breakable bones.

Factors such as age, race, lifestyle choices and medical conditions can lead to osteoporosis. Old, white, white/Asian descent women, family history, lowered sex hormones, thyroid problems, lack of exposure to sunlight, gastrointestinal surgery, oral or injectable steroids, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, cancer, excessive use of alcohol, tobacco use increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is diagnosed by measuring your bone density by a machine called bone densitometer. It determines the proportion of minerals in bones. Smaller devices using ultrasound or CT scan are used to measure bone density on the periphery of the skeleton, such as in the wrist and heel bone. A medical history and physical examination are also done to diagnose osteoporosis.

Risk of fractures in 10 years is predicted by using bone density test. For both men and women, most commonly prescribed medications are bisphosphonates like alendronate, monoclonal antibody medications such as denosumab, hormone-related therapy with raloxifene, bone-building medications like teriparatide. Lifestyle modifications such as avoiding smoking, alcohol, prevention of falls also helps.