Bone is extremely alive, permanently nibbled at by osteoclasts, and rebuilt by osteoblasts.
Bone is not only the scaffolding of the body, but also the main reservoir of calcium, vital for cellular function and for blood coagulation.
Osteoporosis is a decrease in bone mineral density, compromising its solidity, and increasing fracture risk.
Worldwide an estimated 1.5 million individuals suffer a fracture caused by bone disease annually. Around one third of these concern the hip.
20% of patients with a hip fracture die in the following year.50% of survivors are subject to considerable disability. Beyond the age of 50, one out of three women, one out of eight men, suffer from osteoporosis, and are at risk of developing a fracture.
Preventive and curative therapies of osteoporosis, beyond physical activity, smoking cessation, calcium, vitamin D, estrogens, can require drugs such as biphosphonates, calcitonin, parathormone-which may induce hypercalcemia, and a monoclonal antibody against RANK ligand : Denosumab
