Your bones are like sponges inside, with many tiny holes. Osteoporosis makes these holes bigger and more numerous, making your bones less solid and more fragile. Your bones protect and support your vital organs and store calcium and other minerals that your body needs. Your body constantly removes old bone and makes new bone. This process, called “bone remodelling,” keeps your bones strong and gives your body calcium. 

You usually build more bone than you lose until you are about 30 years old. After 35, you start to lose more bone than you make. This makes your bones thinner and weaker. Osteoporosis causes this bone loss to speed up.  

Your risk of getting osteoporosis depends on how much bone you had when you were young. This is called peak bone mass. It is different for each race and partly genetic. The more bone you had, the lower your risk of osteoporosis as you get older. 

Common Risk Factors: 

Many factors can cause or increase the risk of osteoporosis, such as: 

• Age: Your bones become thinner and weaker as you get older.
  
  
• Sex: It is more common in women than men, especially after menopause.
  
  
• Family history: If your parents or siblings have osteoporosis, you are more likely to inherit it.
  
  
• Diet: Not getting enough vitamin D and calcium can affect your bone health.
  
  
• Lifestyle: Drinking too much alcohol, Smoking, and being inactive can harm your bones.
  
  
• Medications: Some drugs, such as corticosteroids, can interfere with bone formation or increase bone loss.
  
  
• Diseases: Certain conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and celiac disease, can affect your bone metabolism.