Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones, increasing the risk of sudden and unexpected fractures. The definition for osteoporosis literally means "porous bone." It results in an increased loss of bone mass and strength and the disease often progresses without any symptoms or pain.

Many times, osteoporosis is not discovered until weakened bones cause painful fractures usually in the back or hips. Unfortunately, once you have an osteoporotic fracture, you are at high risk of having another. And these fractures can be very painful.  There are steps you can take to prevent osteoporosis from ever occurring and with modern technology and treatments, we can slow down the rate of bone loss, even if you already have osteoporosis.

© Feb. 19, 2008 Nikhil Bansal, Anit Behera, Eyad Hajissa, Mohammad Rahman