WHAT IS OSTEOPOROSIS:
With advancing age a certain amount of bone mass is physiologically and inevitably reduced: this reduction is called osteopenia; when the demineralization process becomes particularly strong and continuous enough to cause fractures from minor traumas, it is called osteoporosis.
Bone resistance to trauma is the sum of two concomitant factors: bone density and bone quality.
Bone density is determined, for each person, by the bone mass peak reached and the bone mass lost.
Bone quality depends on the whole on architecture, turnover, damage suffered and mineralization.
It is now widely accepted that osteoporosis is not only a consequence of bone mass reduction occurring with aging. Not reaching an optimal bone mass peak during infancy and adolescence may indeed develop osteoporosis without having an accelerated bone mass reduction during adulthood.
Bone mass optimization is then a process that last the entire course of the life, in both males and females.