Osteoporosis, a disease of fragile thin bones, where the bones lose both their density and mass and as a result, brittle bones would fracture at the slightest fall.
There are several types of osteoporosis, there is Primary Osteoporosis which consists of type 1, a condition that happens in postmenopausal women due to a drop in estrogen levels leading to a massive loss of bone density.
Or type 2 primary osteoporosis which is an age-related condition known as senile osteoporosis.
And there is Secondary Osteoporosis, also known as type 3, in which the occurance of the disease is provoked by a different underlying condition.
Now let’s take a deeper look at each one of those types:
Stages of Osteoporosis |
TYPE 1 OSTEOPOROSIS:
In menopause, women suffer from a terrible drop in estrogen levels which would make the bones of the skeleton more sensitive to the effects of parathyroid hormone, leading to an elevation of the calcium resorbed from bones, that in turn causes a decrease in parathyroid hormone secretion which ultimately ends up decreasing the absorption of calcium by bones.
Now the effects of menopause changes on the develpement of osteoporosis doesn’t quite happen at the onset of menopause, but about a couple of years sooner before the actual amenorrhea starts.
TYPE 2 OSTEOPOROSIS:
For elderly individuals, osteoporosis is just a sign of a decreased ability of the body to form new bones or a decreased capacity of the kidney to form vitamin D, causing lower levels of calcium absorption, which in either case would lead the bones to lose their density.
TYPE 3 OSTEOPOROSIS:
Secondary osteoporosis happens when their is another condition causing the bone loss. Such conditions could be :
. Hypogonadism.
. Hyperthyrodism
. Cancer.
. Bad nutrition.
. Malabsorption.
. Immobilization.
. Drug use such as corticosteroids, anticonvulsants and heparin.
. Alcohol consumption and smoking.
Other rare types of osteoporosis involve:
-Idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis:
A condition that happen to children at the age of 8 and up till the age of 14 with no known cause.
-Osteogenesis Imperfecta:
A condition that happens at birth with no known cause.