Skip to main content

What causes osteoporosis?

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on April 8, 2025.

Official Answer by Drugs.com

What causes the bones of people with osteoporosis to become thin and weak?

Osteoporosis occurs when our bodies do not make enough new bone or our bodies reabsorb old bone, or both. It is a bone disease characterised by the thinning of bone and loss of bone density often resulting in a bone fracture (broken bone).

Our bones can be weakened in several ways:

This bone loss happens gradually over years and it often is not picked up until a fracture occurs and by then the osteoporosis is well advanced.

For more information on causes and treatments visit:

Read next

What's a good prednisone taper schedule?

The best prednisone taper will depend upon how long you have been taking the medicine, your dose, and why you are being treated. If you've been treated with a high dose of prednisone, or taken it for more than a few weeks, you will need to slowly stop your medicine, usually over a period of days, weeks or months. Your healthcare provider will determine your prednisone tapering schedule. Continue reading

Prednisone: What are 12 Things You Should Know?

Prednisone first came onto the market over sixty years ago and is still going strong. But did you know that this common drug used for a variety of different conditions also has some pretty serious side effects as well? Continue reading

Can you take ibuprofen on an empty stomach?

Despite popular belief that you have to take ibuprofen with food, you can take ibuprofen on an empty stomach and this will give you faster pain relief than taking it with food. Food increases the time it takes for ibuprofen to be absorbed, although it won't affect how much is absorbed. There is actually no evidence that taking ibuprofen with food prevents gastric irritation – ibuprofen at OTC doses has a low incidence of gastric irritation anyway. Continue reading

See also:

Related medical questions

Related support groups