Osteoporosis is the most common of the bone diseases. It is apathological condition characterized by decreased bone massand structural deterioration of bone tissue. The result is bonefragility leading to increased risk of fractures of the hip, spine,and wrist. Many times the broken hip is considered the resultof the patient falling when, in actuality, the broken hip was theinitial event causing the fall. The economic impact of this diseaseis tremendous. Osteoporosis is responsible for more than1.5 million fractures annually distributed among 300,000 hips,700,000 vertebrae, 250,000 wrists, and 300,000 other sites. Itis more common in women than men because women, on average,have a smaller bone mass than men. Diagnosis, prior toan actual fracture, is done by bone density measurements.
