Bone Loss Glossary of Terms

1. Osteoporosis Slideshow Pictures
2. Super Foods for Your Bones Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Osteoporosis Quiz

Absorb: 1. To take something in, as through the skin or the intestine.
2....

Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion...

Anorexia nervosa: See Anorexia.

Anticonvulsant: A medication used to control (prevent) seizures (convulsions) or stop an o...

Arthritis: Inflammation of a joint. When joints are inflamed they can develop stiffness, w...

Asthma: A common lung disorder in which inflammation causes the bronchi to swell and narro...

BMI: Body mass index.

Body mass index: A key index for relating weight to height. Abbreviated BMI. BMI is a pers...

Bone density: Bone density is the amount of bone tissue in a certain volume of bone. It ca...

Bone mineral density: BMD, a measure of bone density, reflecting the strength of bones as ...

Bowel: The small and large intestine.

Broken hip: Fractured bone in the hip, a key health problem among the elderly, usually due...

Calcium: A mineral found mainly in the hard part of bones, where it is stored. Calcium is ...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Collagen: The principal protein of the skin, tendons, cartilage, bone, and connective tiss...

Computed tomography: An x-ray procedure that uses the help of a computer to produce a deta...

Corticosteroid: Any of the steroid hormones made by the outer portion (cortex) of the adre...

Dowager's hump: An abnormal outward curvature of the thoracic vertebrae of the upper back....

Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

Estrogen: A female steroid hormone that is produced by the ovaries and, in lesser amounts,...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Fracture: A break in bone or cartilage. Although usually a result of trauma, a fracture ca...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Hip fracture: Broken bone in the hip, a key health problem among the elderly, usually due ...

Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activit...

Hormone therapy: Treatment of disease or symptoms with synthetic or naturally derived horm...

Hypogonadism: A condition in which decreased production of gonadal hormones leads to below...

Inflammatory bowel disease: A group of chronic intestinal diseases characterized by infla...

Internal medicine: The medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment ...

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Liver disease: Liver disease refers to any disorder of the liver. The liver is a large org...

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon...

Lupus: A chronic inflammatory disease that is caused by autoimmunity. Patients with lupus ...

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may ...

Menopause: The time in a woman's life when menstrual periods permanently stop; it is also...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Nursing: 1) Profession concerned with the provision of services essential to the maintena...

Nutrition: 1) The science or practice of taking in and utilizing foods. 2) A nourishing ...

Osteopenia: Mild thinning of the bone mass. Osteopenia represents a low bone mass and is n...

Osteoporosis: Thinning of the bones, with reduction in bone mass, due to depletion of calc...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Phosphate: A form of phosphoric acid. Calcium phosphate makes bones and teeth hard.

Postmenopausal: After menopause, the period of time after a woman has experienced 12 conse...

Protein: One of the three nutrients used as energy sources (calories) by the body. Protein...

Quantitative: Having to do with quantity or with the amount.

Receptor: 1. In cell biology, a structure on the surface of a cell (or inside a cel...

Resistance: Opposition to something, or the ability to withstand something. For example, s...

Resorption: The process of losing substance. For example, when bone is surgically reshaped...

Rheumatology: A subspecialty of internal medicine that involves the nonsurgical evaluation...

Skeleton: The skeleton is composed of bones and is the framework of the body.

Spine: 1) The column of bone known as the vertebral column, which surrounds and protects ...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Testes: Plural of testis.

Testosterone: A "male hormone" -- a sex hormone produced by the testes that encourages th...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or s...

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Uterine cancer: A malignant tumor of the uterus (womb), which occurs most often in women b...

Vitamin D: A steroid vitamin which promotes the intestinal absorption and metabolism of ca...

Vitamins: The word "vitamin" was coined in 1911 by the Warsaw-born biochemist Casimir Funk...

Wrist: The part of the hand that is nearest the forearm and consists of the carpal bones a...

X-ray: High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-ray is used...

Yogurt: A common dish made of milk curdled and fermented with a culture of Lactobacillus (...