Osteoporosis involves reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration. Which statement best describes how trabecular vs cortical bone loss affects fracture risk?

Osteoporosis involves reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration. Which statement best describes how trabecular vs cortical bone loss affects fracture risk?

• A. Osteoporosis involves increased bone mass.
• B. Osteoporosis is reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration; trabecular bone loss increases vertebral and hip fracture risk.
• C. Osteoporosis only affects children.
• D. Osteoporosis is an infection of bone.

Answer: (B)

Osteoporosis weakens bone by both lowering how much bone you have and damaging its internal support—the microarchitecture. The trabecular, or spongy, bone inside the vertebrae and around the ends of long bones is highly metabolically active and more sensitive to loss. When the trabecular network thins, becomes perforated, or loses connectivity, the internal scaffold collapses under normal loads, which raises the risk of vertebral compression fractures and fractures of the hip. Cortical bone, the hard outer layer, also thins with aging, contributing to weaker overall bone, but the most fracture-prone changes in osteoporosis are the microarchitectural deteriorations in trabecular bone. So, the statement that osteoporosis involves reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration, with trabecular bone loss increasing vertebral and hip fracture risk, best captures the situation. The other descriptions don’t fit: osteoporosis isn’t about increased bone mass, it doesn’t only affect children, and it isn’t an infection of bone.

Osteoporosis weakens bone by both lowering how much bone you have and damaging its internal support—the microarchitecture. The trabecular, or spongy, bone inside the vertebrae and around the ends of long bones is highly metabolically active and more sensitive to loss. When the trabecular network thins, becomes perforated, or loses connectivity, the internal scaffold collapses under normal loads, which raises the risk of vertebral compression fractures and fractures of the hip. Cortical bone, the hard outer layer, also thins with aging, contributing to weaker overall bone, but the most fracture-prone changes in osteoporosis are the microarchitectural deteriorations in trabecular bone. So, the statement that osteoporosis involves reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration, with trabecular bone loss increasing vertebral and hip fracture risk, best captures the situation.

The other descriptions don’t fit: osteoporosis isn’t about increased bone mass, it doesn’t only affect children, and it isn’t an infection of bone.