HEALTHY BODY

By Neil Valentine D'Silva Osteoporosis literally means 'porous bones'. In the people affected by this medical condition, there is a faulty mineralization of the bones, which cause the bones to become porous within, with a lot of embedded hollow-like spaces. This causes the bones to be more brittle than the bones of young people, and causes them to get fractured easily. Bones require two essential minerals for their formation - they are calcium and phosphates. These minerals work within the bone to mineralize it and to keep it 'alive'. However, in people where this mineralization cannot occur for some reason, or if it occurs only erratically, then the person is affected by this medical condition. Osteoporosis -affected bones have more pronounced hollow spaces within them, which causes them to break more frequently and more easily. Such fractures happen in situations where healthy people would not normally get a fracture. This disease mostly affects th