What Is Osteoporosis? What You Need to Know

What is osteoporosis anyway? Is osteoporosis a normal sign of aging? Does osteoporosis only affect women? Here's the truth: What you don't know about osteoporosis may hurt you.

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a common disease that weakens bones. As it does, your risk of sudden and unexpected fractures goes up. Osteopenia is the forerunner of osteoporosis. It is a silent but destructive condition that robs bones during a woman's -- even a young woman's -- most productive time.

No matter what your age or sex, osteoporosis and osteopenia can affect you. Your bones might seem sturdy now. You may be very active and doing the things you want to do. But osteoporosis and osteopenia are quiet, accomplished thieves. In fact, there are usually no visible signs. You may notice a loss of height or a Dowager's hump over time. But chances are good the first sign that you have one of these conditions will be a painful fracture.

What is osteoporosis bone loss?

The bone loss with osteoporosis occurs over many years and is severe. It's so severe that the normal stress on bones from sitting, standing, coughing, or even hugging a loved one can result in painful fractures and immobility. Then, after the first fracture, you are at risk for more fractures. These future fractures may cause you to live with daily chronic pain. They can cause you disability. They may rob you of your independence.

That's why it's important to learn all you can about osteoporosis and osteopenia. Then you can take immediate steps to keep your bones strong. That way you can prevent bone loss and painful fractures.

What are osteoporosis symptoms?

Osteoporosis often progresses without symptoms or pain. Losing height may be noticeable. Or a Dowager's hump may develop with age. Usually, though, a doctor diagnoses osteoporosis after a painful fracture occurs.

That fracture is usually in the back or hips. Painful fractures are debilitating and disfiguring. They can result in loss of mobility and independence.

In WebMD's Osteoporosis Guide, you can read all about the latest medical recommendations and complementary treatments for preventing bone loss. You can read how to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis and how to reduce your risk of painful fractures. In addition, you can read how osteoporosis medications, along with diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices, can slow the rate of bone loss and help you prevent fractures.

What is osteopenia?

With osteopenia, there are no warning signs until you fracture a bone. Osteopenia is the forerunner of osteoporosis. If it isn't diagnosed and isn't treated, osteopenia can lead directly to osteoporosis. With osteoporosis, your bones become thin, weaker, and fracture easily.

The good news is if you are diagnosed with osteoporosis, you can get treatments. Those osteoporosis treatments can slow bone loss, increase the amount of bone you have, and lower your chances of fractures. But there's no reason to wait until you can't reverse how weak your bones have become. Detecting osteopenia with a bone density test is easy. From there, making a plan to prevent disfiguring and painful fractures is simple.

For more information, see WebMD's Bone Density Tests.