Understanding Osteoporosis: The Fragility of the Skeleton

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The skeletal system is foundation of the human body. It's what paves the way for the rest of the systems in our body. Osteoporosis is a non curable disease that affects the bones and the strength of them. It is most common in older women and occurs mostly in the spine, hip, and wrist areas. If our skelton starts to become more fragile and break easier, then it cannot give us the support or protection it's supposed to give to the rest of our body. Our skeleton is the framework of our body and one of the most important systems.

At the microscopic level, the anatomy of the bones are fairly simple. Bones are made of osteons which can be classified into two sections, woven bone and lamellar bone. Lamellar bone is most common and when it’s …show more content…

One function is structuring and framing our bodies. Without our bones, we would be just a pile of organs. We need our bones so we can stand and take the shape of a human. Protection is another function of the skeletal system. Our skull protects our brain, our vertebrae protect our spinal cord, our sternum protects our heart and our ribs protect our lungs. Without the protection our bones provide, even the smallest poke or hit could result in a fatal accident. Also, our bones are attached to our muscles by tendons. When the muscles contract they move the bones which move our arms and our legs so we can walk or pick things up. Additionally, our blood is made in our bones through a process called hematopoiesis. This happens in the bone marrow which is located at the center of our …show more content…

If bones are never conditioned to repair themselves through ossification, brittle bone builds up, and the body can not rebuild the bone efficiently. Estrogen maintains bone density and as women lose it as they age, bones become less dense and more brittle (Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Marieb). Symptoms of osteoporosis include, back pain and spontaneous fractures; most commonly occurring in the hips. Osteoporosis has no known cure at the moment, but doctors are working to find ways to make the disease more

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