osteoporosis

osteoporosis

porosity and brittleness of the bones due to loss of calcium from the bone matrix

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

osteoporosis

[¦äs·tē·ō·pə′rō·səs]

(medicine)

Deossification with absolute decrease in bone tissue, resulting in enlargement of marrow and Haversian spaces, decreased thickness of cortex and trabeculae, and structural weakness.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Osteoporosis

 

a thinning of the cancellous and cortical layers of bone as a result of partial bone resorption. Osteoporosis is not an independent disease but a condition that results from local or systemic metabolic disorders. It often occurs in osteomyelitis, Itsenko-Cushing’s disease, inflammatory diseases of the joints, and traumas—especially fractures—in which major blood vessels and nerves are injured. Osteoporosis also frequently arises with frostbite, burns, nervous-system lesions (including poliomyelitis), and toxic conditions (for example, the late stages of cancer). It can arise as a side effect of prednisolone treatment.

Osteoporosis can be detected only by roentgenography. It can be local, regional, disseminated, or systemic and arises in spots or uniform patches. Osteoporosis usually subsides once the underlying disease is cured but does not completely disappear until the function of the affected portion is completely restored. Anabolic hormones are used to treat the disease.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.