To better understand the journey this book takes, it is important to understand what osteoporosis is. As I share details about my personal health and why my life is at the stage it is now with this disease- it is frightening to think how many people may read this and find it to be a story about them too.
How I, along with millions of people became a victim of osteoporosis will be revealed in detail later in this book.
The National Institute of Health- Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases says osteoporosis has been defined as a disease where there is a loss of bone mass and structural deterioration of the bone tissue. It is described as a loss of calcium to the bone and makes the individual more susceptible to breaking bones. The hips, ribs, spine and wrists are the higher risk areas for breakage, but any bone can be affected. Compression fractures of the spine can lead to deterioration of support from the vertebrae resulting in a stooped back (hunched over) and height loss. As bones become weaker with age, the risk of osteoporosis becomes even greater. However, once a debilitating disease known for afflicting the elderly, men and women regardless of age can and do become victims.
Over ten million people currently have osteoporosis. Over triple that amount have a low bone mass. Osteoporosis is responsible for over one and a half million fractures a year. This includes 300,000 hip fractures, 250,000 wrist fractures, 700,000 vertebrae fractures, and more than 300,000 fractures at other sites. Estimated national direct expenditures (hospitals and nursing homes) for osteoporosis and related fractures is over twenty billion dollars a year.
