Osteoporosis is a disease where decreased bone
strength increases the risk of a broken bone. It is the most common reason for
a broken bone among the elderly. Osteoporosis may be due to lower than normal
peak bone mass and greater than normal bone loss. Bone loss increases after
menopause due to lower levels of estrogen. Osteoporosis may also occur due to a
number of diseases or treatments including alcoholism, anorexia, hyperthyroidism,
surgical removal of the ovaries, and kidney disease. Certain medications
increase the rate of bone loss including some antiseizure medications,
chemotherapy, proton pump inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,
and steroids. Not enough exercise and smoking are also risk factors.
Osteoporosis is defined as a bone density of 2.5 standard deviations below that
of a young adult. This is typically measured by dual-energy X-ray
absorptiometry at the hip.
In the present book, fifteen typical literatures about osteoporosis published on international authoritative
journals were selected to introduce the worldwide newest progress, which
contains reviews or original researches on medical science, aging-associated
diseases, endocrine diseases, epidemiology, ect.
We hope this book can demonstrate advances in osteoporosis as well as give
references to the researchers, students and other related people.