Causes of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis occurs when the bones in your body become brittle and fragile. To understand the cause of osteoporosis, a basic understanding of your bones is needed.

Throughout a person's life, bone is constantly being renewed through a process where old bone is removed and replaced with new bone. Up until the age of about 30 years old, more bone is added than is taken away, hence your bones are continuously becoming stronger. After this age, more bone is being taken away than is replaced, causing a gradual thinning of the bone.

In a person's later years, the bones can become too thin and consequently, they become weak, brittle and prone to fractures. Fractures commonly occur at the hip, wrists and spine.


Continue to effects of osteoporosis and osteoporosis related fractures.