6 Age-related bone loss and osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease characterised by low bone strength leading to fragility and increased fracture risk. Bone strength is represented by two components: bone mineral density (BMD) and bone quality. Bone mass in old age is dependent both on the peak bone mass achieved and its subsequent rate of loss. Deterioration of bone mass and bone quality leave no identifiable skeletal lesions (and, indeed, cause no symptoms in the living), so, unlike …