[Involutional osteoporosis--etiopathogenesis and treatment]

Osteoporosis is a unique disease of old people. It is progressing from 5-th decade of life. The following factors are increasing progress of the disease: estrogen (and androgen) deficiency, low calcium diet, small physical activity, low body weight (body mass index). Disease mainly affects women in whom normal with age loss of bone tissue (average 0.3% of bone mass per year) increases up to 1-2% in postmenopausal period and in every third woman the loss may reach several percent a year. All these factors results in osteoporosis, systemic disease of the skeleton, characterized by low bone mass, damaged microarchitectonics and increase probability of spontaneous fracture of bones. The treatment of this disease is directed towards stimulating osteogenesis and inhibition the resorption of the bone tissue by more active lifestyle, diet rich in calcium (milk and its products), hormone replacement therapy supplemented with calcium and vitamin D3. The most effective drug in osteoporosis with increase bone turnover seems to be calcitonin, which is especially effective in treatment of senile osteoporosis (type II) and in all cases complicated by bone fractures.