Osteoporosis
Sutter Orthopaedic Institute

Osteoporosis (literally “porous bones”) is called the silent disease because its first symptom is often a fracture that results after decades of gradual bone loss. For years, doctors thought that weakening bones and osteoporosis-related fractures were an expected part of the aging process. Now they are finding that’s not true. While one in two women over age 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related bone fracture in her life, the bone loss that results in osteoporosis can be prevented, stopped, and even reversed.

Good health habits, including eating well, exercising 30 minutes a day (including weightlifting), and ensuring you get plenty of calcium and vitamin D through food or supplements can stop bone loss before it starts. Even after it begins, you can halt its progress. And, with a little effort, you can turn around the process and begin building stronger bones through the same healthy habits, with the possible assistance of new medications that treat bone disease.

Prevention is well worth the effort when you consider that osteoporosis and its precursor osteopenia affect 44 million Americans. Many of these people will go on to suffer from bone cracks or breaks, most often of the wrist, hip or spine. Others will experience a gradual loss of height, spine curvature, a severely rounded upper back known as a dowager’s hump, or nerve pain caused by loss of bone mass and skeletal support.

Screening is critical, especially for women over age 65, though 20 percent of people with osteoporosis are men and many younger adults are being diagnosed with the condition. Discussing your risk level with your Sutter primary care physician is the best place to begin. If you’re over age 50 and certain risk factors are present, your doctor may recommend a bone-density screening that takes about five to 10 painless minutes.

Treatment is also available through Sutter primary and specialty care doctors. Your primary care doctor may prescribe hormone replacement therapy or a medication that slows bone loss or help bones to thicken. If bone cracks or breaks begin occurring, you may be referred to one of our Sutter Orthopaedic Institute or Sutter Neuroscience Institute Spine Program specialists, depending on the nature of the fracture. Our Spine Program specialists perform vertebroplasty, an innovative, minimally invasive treatment for compression fractures of the spine. And orthopedic surgeons and spine specialists help thousands of patients each year recover from bone osteoporosis-related fractures.

While treatment is available, the best course of action is to become informed about the condition and self-care strategies you can adopt to prevent, halt or reverse bone loss. Try our interactive osteoporosis risk questionnaire to determine your risk level and suggested steps for prevention or treatment. Our Healthwise health information section also offers informative articles on osteopenia, osteoporosis, complementary medicine treatments for osteoporosis, and bone mineral density screening.