This research provides an overview of the development, prevention, detection, and treatment of osteoporosis. An emphasis is placed on the consideration of natural and drugless therapies for the prevention and treatment of the condition. The following section defines osteoporosis, and traces its development. This discussion of osteoporosis is then followed by a review of detection procedures. Lastly, natural and drug less therapies for its prevention and treatment are reviewed.
OSTEOPOROSIS: DEFINITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Osteoporosis is a "reduction of the total mass of bone, with the remaining bone being fragile or 'brittle'" (Kirsch mann, 1989, p. 155). Osteo refers to bone, while porosis indi cates porosity (Berger, 1987). Symptoms of osteoporosis include "increased incidence of fracture, pains in the hip and back, and reduced height" (Kirschmann, 1989, p. 155). Osteo porosis develops most frequently in (1) persons over the age of 50 years, primarily menapausal women (Kirschmann, 1989), (2) women generally, but primarily menapausal (Berger, 1987), (3) people who are small boned and fair skinned (Berger, 1987), and (4) people of Northern European, Japanese, and Chinese origin (Berger, 1987).
Major causes of osteoporsis are (1) an inadequate intake of calcium over a long period of time (Abravanel, 1985), and (2) an inability of the body to absorb calcium through the intestine (Kirschmann, 1989). Other causes included (1) a cal cium phosphorus imbalance, (2) insufficient exercise, and (3) an absence or deficiency of certain hormones in the body (Kirschmann, 1989). Usually, more than one of these causes is implicated in the development of osteoporosis.
For most persons, bones are the strongest and the most calcium rich at about 35 years old (Berger, 1987). At about this stage of life, the ability of the body to absorb calcium through the intestines begins to diminish. The body reacts to this development by leaching ...