Mineral alterations in senile osteoporosis

This research investigates the occurrence of involutional processes of mineral transformation in elderly patients with clinical, radiographic and histological signs of senile osteoporosis. The decreased ability to withstand static and dynamic stresses proved to be associated either with the quantitative reduction in trabeculae or with the altered morphology of hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals. This variation produces a non-homogeneous mineral distribution which leads to a substantial alteration of the system of the stress lines producing mechanical bone behaviour. This altered distribution in mineral density has been attributed to the dynamic loss of balance between osteoblastic and osteoclastic activity; this is believed to be a peculiarity of senile osteoporosis.