HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury
Overview of osteoporosis
Mate kōiwi
Osteoporosis is a condition that causes your bones to be thinner and weaker than normal. This means they can break easily, such as after a small bump or a fall from standing height or less.
Osteoporosis affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50.
Some people are more likely to get osteoporosis than others. To find out about your bone health, you can do a simple test called Know Your Bones.
You cannot change some of the risk factors that increase your likelihood of getting osteoporosis, such as your sex or age, but you can change others.
Risk factors you may be unable to change include:
- being female, although men can also develop osteoporosis
- getting older
- having a family history of osteoporosis
- being underweight
- having certain conditions such as hormone problems, coeliac disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer and prostate cancer
- using some medications such as prednisone or medications for epilepsy
- early menopause
- having a hysterectomy or your ovaries removed.
You can reduce your risk of getting osteoporosis by strengthening your bones. You can achieve this by keeping physically active, getting enough vitamin D and calcium in your diet, not smoking and not drinking excess alcohol.
Symptoms of osteoporosis
There are no early warning symptoms or signs with osteoporosis. The first signs can include:
- a fracture of your wrist, hips, spine or other bone that happens more easily than it should
- losing height, as this could be a sign of a compression fracture.
With more severe osteoporosis, you can fracture a bone doing ordinary things like bending, lifting or just getting up from a chair.
Diagnosing osteoporosis
Your doctor can assess your risk of osteoporosis from your medical history and by asking you about your lifestyle. They can look for physical signs of osteoporosis such as previous fractures.
They may suggest you have a bone density scan (also called DEXA scan) to assess your bone health.
Treating osteoporosis
There are good treatments that can slow the progression of osteoporosis and help to stop you getting broken bones. These include lifestyle measures and medications.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Patient.info – Osteoporosis
Includes detailed information about osteoporosis, including symptoms, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and medication.
- Osteoporosis New Zealand
A website with lots of resources, support and information about osteoporosis and fractures.
On the next page: Reducing your risk of osteoporosis
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed September 2023.
SourcesReview key: HIOSP-24517
