Your body can be prone to conditions that are usually silent and do not give out any symptoms in the beginning. One such area could be your bones; the reason being that bones are one of the strongest parts of the human body and are not susceptible to complications that easily. However, your bones and joints can undergo many such silent complications and of the most intricate among them could be a condition known as osteoporosis. They have little similarity with arthritis and do not show their symptoms in many cases. Often people would be diagnosed with such a condition only when the disease has spread to its advanced stages. Let us have an in-depth picture of this silent crippler. Osteoporosis is a disease, which affects the quality of the bones and makes them brittle. In many cases, people are completely unaware that their bones are prone to fractures and breakages. Your lifestyle can be the biggest risk factor apart from your dietary habits in increasing the risk of osteoporosis. Your low physical inactivity and calcium intake can also add up to the risk. The symptoms can resemble a normal joint pain, and many people tend to ignore the facts.

Osteoporosis is a form of arthritis that causes the bones to weaken, which makes them increasingly fragile and highly prone to fractures. It is estimated that around two million fractures are caused by this condition annually. Although osteoporosis can affect any bone, it is usually observed in body parts like wrist, spine, and hip. Almost 80 percent of the osteoporosis patients are postmenopausal women. This is because, during menopause, a woman’s body experiences a significant hormonal change. Therefore, it is essential for women over 65 to get osteoporosis assessments on a regular basis. How often should you get screened for osteoporosis? The osteoporosis testing frequency depends on multiple factors like age, gender, underlying medical conditions, medical and family history. For example, if you are a woman in your 60s in the post-menopause phase with vitamin D deficiency, then you should get osteoporosis testing done every year. On the other hand, if you are a healthy woman in your postmenopausal phase, then you should get osteoporosis testing done in every two years. Moreover, osteoporosis testing is not only valuable for identifying the condition but also for monitoring it. If you are already dealing with osteoporosis, then the doctor might ask you to get screened in every few months to keep an eye on the progress of the condition and how well are the treatments working against it.