Osteoporosis: What, Who, When, Why, and How?

Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disease in older populations, which leads to about two million fractures annually in the US. It is a silent disorder, characterized by decreased bone strength, predisposing to an increased risk of fracture. Bone strength reflects two major features, bone density and bone quality. Bone quality includes such factors as the health of the collagen component of bone, and the architecture of bone. Bone quality however, cannot practically be quantified. For now, measurement of bone density remains the primary technique for measuring bone strength and monitoring the treatment for osteoporosis