The importance of good bone health becomes painfully clear when bones are not healthy. The most common bone disease is osteoporosis. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 44 million Americans either have osteoporosis or are at risk for it. In this disease, bone mass is lost, and the spaces within the bone become wider, causing structural weakness. Severely weakened bone can break at the slightest movement. These breaks are called osteoporotic fractures.
Osteoporotic fractures can affect any bone in the body, but most often affect the hip, wrist, and spine. Common osteoporotic fractures — "crush" fractures of the little bones of the spine (vertebrae) — can result in loss of height and dowager's hump, a forward curvature of the spine. The fractures make moving painful. Osteoporosis is called the silent thief because often there are no warning signs until a fracture occurs. By the time a fracture does occur, bone loss may be so advanced that a simple movement such as coughing can cause bones to break. However, there are methods to detect osteoporosis before a fracture occurs. Check out the section "Are You at Risk?" If you fall into a higher-risk group, talk to your physician about having a simple, painless bone-density test.
New, effective medicines are available to help slow the loss of bone and, in some cases, help build new bone. These medicines need a calcium- and vitamin D-rich diet to be able to perform at their best. This makes proper nutrient intake very important for people who take these medications.