La mujer del juez

A Brief Thesis on the Effects and Origins of Osteoporosis
By Graham Garfield

Osteoporosis is a disease that effects the composition of bone and bone density (“Web MD”, 2010). Osteoporosisliterally means “bone pores”, or porous osteum. An individual said to have osteoporosis is characterized by having light and fragile (porous) bones as a result of osteoclasts breaking down more bonetissue than osteoblasts are making over time (Marieb and Hoehn 191). The primary danger associated with porous and weakened bones is the formation of fractures and breakages in adults (Hall, 112), withconservative estimates of fractures or breakages as a result of osteoporosis at 25% of women over 65 (Hall, 112), although some estimates are much higher. This disease is typically thought of asaffecting only postmenopausal women, but this is potentially a flawed perception (“Web MD”, 1999). According to Alastair Sarre of the Australian Academy of Science, “It is estimated that a staggering 60per cent of women and 30 per cent of men [in Australia] over the age of 60 suffer from a broken bone due to osteoporosis” (Sarre, 1998).
The start of Osteoporosis can begin at a relativelyyoung age, although it is rarely diagnosed in individuals under 40 (Sarre, 1998). What occurs within the bone structure to cause Osteoporosis is relatively simple; bone reabsorbtion occurs at a rate thatis cumulatively faster than the rate of deposit, resulting in an aggregate loss of total bone density over time (Marieb and Hoehn, 191). Osteoblasts store mineral deposits, such as calcium in thebone both strengthening it and providing mineral reserves that the body can utilize as mineral deficiencies arise, but as osteoclasts break down bone tissue and remove minerals for use the bone becomeweaker (Sarre, 1998). Before full-on Osteoporosis has formed, an individual experiencing aggregate bone loss is referred to as Having Osteopenia, a condition in which bone mass density (BDM) is...