T
hroughout life, bone is constantly renewed and removed, this process is called bone turnover.When women are postmenopauses, cell activity destructive bone is bigger than cell activity constructrices bone so that the bones gradually lose their mass and strength and are more likely to break or fracture. This condition is called osteoporosis.
About 200 million women worldwide suffer from osteoporosis (630,000 Belgium). The disease affects mostly women postmenopauses when they lose the protective effect of estrogen. A smaller number of men is also affected by osteoporosis.
One in three women will suffer at least one osteoporosis fracture during their lifetime. The impact of osteoporosis is high. The disease can cause serious disability, loss of independence or even death.
Osteoporosis is a disease that rapidly progresses from the moment a fracture occurred. Among women over 45 years, there are more days spent in hospital for osteoporosis than for other diseases, including diabetes, myocardial infarction and breast cancer.
