Bone Remodelling and Bone Disorders: Osteomalacia, Osteoporosis and Brittle Bone Disease

Overview

Recall questions on Osteomalacia, Osteoporosis and Brittle Bone Disease.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How does osteomalacia differ from rickets?

   Model answer

   Osteomalacia has the same cause, poor mineralisation from a lack of vitamin D or calcium, but occurs in adults whose bones have stopped growing, so the bones do not become deformed but soften, causing bone pain, muscle weakness and easy fracture.

2. 2

   What is osteoporosis?

   Model answer

   Osteoporosis is a loss of bone mass in which the amount of bone tissue is reduced, so the bone becomes porous and fragile although the matrix that remains is normal.

3. 3

   Explain osteoporosis in terms of the two types of bone cell.

   Model answer

   The activity of the osteoclasts exceeds that of the osteoblasts, so bone is broken down faster than it is replaced and the trabeculae become thin and widely spaced.

4. 4

   Why does the risk of osteoporosis rise sharply in women after the menopause?

   Model answer

   Oestrogen normally restrains osteoclast activity, and the fall in oestrogen after the menopause allows bone to be broken down much faster.

5. 5

   Give three risk factors for osteoporosis other than being a woman past the menopause.

   Model answer

   Increasing age, a diet low in calcium and vitamin D, and lack of weight-bearing exercise.

6. 6

   Why is osteoporosis often not detected until a fracture occurs?

   Model answer

   The gradual loss of bone tissue produces no symptoms of its own, so the first sign is usually a broken wrist, hip or vertebra after a minor fall.

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