Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis

• Osteoarthritis (OA)

  When the cushiony tissue called cartilage in your joints gradually breaks down over time, causing the bones to rub together, which can lead to pain, stiffness, swelling, and a loss of movement in the joint
• Osteoporosis (OP)

  The imbalance between the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, making your bone tissue break down faster than the body can create new bone tissue, making the bone less dense and more likely to fracture
• Risk Factors for OA

  • Age: cartilage in your joints naturally breaks down more as you get older
  • Joint Injuries: fractures, sprains, and torn ligaments
  • Overweight: extra weight puts more stress on your weight-bearing joints, like your knees and hips
• In a healthy body, new bone is created and old bone is broken down, in a coordinated manner
• Risk Factors for OP

  • Age: bodies become less efficient at building bone
  • Lack of calcium and vitamin D in your diet: essential for building strong bones
  • Smoking, excessive alcohol intake and inactive lifestyle choices weakens bones
• Cartilage

  Tough, rubbery tissue that covers the end of your bones, acting like a cushion and allowing the bones to glide easily against each other
• In an OA-affected joint

  The cartilage starts thinning, causing the bones to directly rub together, leading to pain, stiffness and swelling
• Osteoarthritis (OA) affects the hip joint more than the shoulder joint

  The hip joint constantly bears more body weight than the shoulder joint. This constant pressure can wear down the cartilage in the hip overtime, leading to OA. Additionally, the hip joint moves in a large range of directions, allowing you to walk, run and squat. These activities put more repetitive stress on the cartilage in the hip joint, rather than the shoulder joint, also leading to OA in the long run.
• Osteoblasts

  Cells that build new bone tissue by depositing minerals, like calcium, into a collagen framework
• Osteoclasts

  Cells that break down old or damaged bone tissue
• Spongy bone

  Lightweight and porous bone tissue with a honeycomb structure and thin rods called trabeculae
• In osteoporosis

  The activity of osteoclasts speeds up, breaking down bone tissue faster than osteoblasts can build new bone tissue, leading to a loss of minerals that make bones strong and dense, weakening the bones and making them more likely to fracture. Osteoporosis (OP) also affects your spongy bone as it has a high surface area for osteoclasts to work on.
• Lifestyle changes to treat OA and OP without meds or surgery

  • For OA: Staying active with low-impact daily exercises to strengthen muscles around the joint, providing support and stability, whilst also improving flexibility and reducing pain
  • For OP: Weight-bearing exercise to keep muscles and bones strong
  • For OA: Maintaining a healthy diet to reduce stress on your joints
  • For OP: Getting enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet to build strong bones
• Osteoclasts


  Cells that break down bone tissue. In osteoporosis, their activity speeds up.
• Osteoblasts


  Cells that build new bone tissue. In osteoporosis, they can't keep up with the increased activity of osteoclasts.
• Imbalance between osteoclast and osteoblast activity


  Leads to a loss of minerals that make bones strong and dense, weakening the bones and making them more likely to fracture.
• Spongy bone (trabecular bone)

  A type of bone tissue that has a high surface area for osteoclasts to work on. It is particularly vulnerable to the effects of osteoporosis.