Both the bones and joints in the human body can be injured by accidents, activities and diseases. Some of these disorders are severe enough that they can deeply impair the patient's ability to move. Three common types of bone and joint disorders---osteonecrosis, arthritis and osteoporosis---result in degradation of the bone. While all three of these bone and joint disorders can be caused by drugs or injury, loss of estrogen or testosterone plays a huge factor in osteoporosis.
Osteonecrosis
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), "osteonecrosis is bone death caused by poor blood supply to the area. It is most common in the hip and shoulder." When the bone has a lack of blood supply, the bone dies and breaks off. When left untreated, the bone damage can get severe enough that the bone collapses. Causes of osteonecrosis include decompression sickness, long-term use of steroids, injury around the joint, excessive alcohol consumption, Gaucher disease, sickle cell disease and radiation therapy. Symptoms do not appear at onset; however, pain is the most noticeable symptom. The pain occurs the most in the hip, resulting in a limited range of motion.
Arthritis
"Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints, which results in pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited movement. There are over 100 different types of arthritis," according to the NIH. There are two types of arthritis: arthritis caused by a breakdown of cartilage and arthritis caused by joint inflammation; for example, rheumatoid arthritis is caused by joint inflammation. However, secondary osteoarthritis can be caused by injury to the cartilage or joint inflammation. When the cartilage around the joint wears away, the bones rub together, resulting in pain, inflammation and stiffness; the loss of cartilage cannot be reversed. However, if the joint inflammation is treated, then the symptoms should go away.
Osteoporosis
According to the NIH, "osteoporosis is the thinning of bone tissue and loss of bone density over time." The NIH adds that one out of five women who are 50 or older have osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is caused by lack of calcium and phosphate in the bones, due to the patient's body reabsorbing these two minerals. In addition, the drop of estrogen in women through menopause, or testosterone in men through aging, results in the greatest decrease of bone density. However, the bone loss occurs over time.
