Meaning & use
osteoporosis
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedical
A medical condition in which bones become weak and brittle, making them more likely to break.
Grammar: Uncountable, so no plural and no 'a' before it: 'She has osteoporosis.'
Patterns
- have osteoporosis
- develop osteoporosis
- osteoporosis in someone
My grandmother was diagnosed with osteoporosis after she broke her wrist.
Osteoporosis often affects older women because of hormonal changes after menopause.
Weight-bearing exercise can help prevent osteoporosis.
Common combinations
- severe osteoporosis
- Her doctor said she had severe osteoporosis and needed medication.
- risk of osteoporosis
- Calcium and vitamin D can reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
- diagnosed with osteoporosis
- He was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 70.
- osteoporosis treatment
- New osteoporosis treatments can slow bone loss.
Synonyms and how they differ
- brittle bone disease
- A less formal term sometimes used, but it can also refer to a rare genetic condition, so 'osteoporosis' is more precise.
Word family
- osteoporotic adjective
- Describing bones affected by osteoporosis, as in 'osteoporotic fractures'.
Commonly confused: osteoporosis or osteoarthritis?
osteoporosis vs osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is joint pain from wear and tear, while osteoporosis is bone thinning. They sound similar but affect different parts of the body.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'osteoporosis' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Osteoporosis' is uncountable, so it doesn't take 'a' or a plural verb. It's also not caused by a virus; it's a condition of weak bones. Option 2 is the only grammatically and factually correct sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “osteoporosis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.