Osteoporosis Pathophysiology in 3 Simple Steps

In this video, we are diving into the pathophysiology of osteoporosis. So you can understand it better and get those questions right on your nursing school exams. Let's dive in. So when you think about osteoporosis, think bones. This is a problem with the bones. Osteoporosis is when the inside of the bone, the bone matrix, becomes porous and less dense. So, in essence, there's more holes in the bones. This happens with aging, and it is pretty common, especially, especially in women. And we'll talk about why that is in a minute. Now, how does this happen? What's the pathophysiology? Well, there are two types of cells inside the bones, osteoblasts, which help to build up new bone and also take phosphate and calcium into the bone for storage. And they build up the bones. They essentially strengthen the bone matrix within the spongy bone. Then osteoclasts help to move calcium from the bone into the blood. If needed to maintain homeostasis in the blood, they calcium out of the bone matrix and they put it in the bloodstream in order to maintain that balance. So think osteoblasts that build up bone, and osteoclasts move calcium to the blood from the bone. So osteoblasts and osteoclasts, they work together to maintain that homeostasis in the blood and in the bones. Now, with osteoporosis, the osteoclasts start to become imbalanced, and they work at a faster rate than the osteoblasts. So the osteoblasts cannot continue to keep up and build those bones as fast as the osteoclasts are breaking the bones down. So the bones, over time, become more weak and the spongy matrix becomes less dense and more fragile. The bones then overall become unable to keep up with the everyday activity and the movement. And that can lead to fractures simply because the bones are just not as strong as they once were. This process happens over a long period of time. The osteoclast will, over time, start to work faster, faster than those osteoblasts. As men, and especially women age, especially around age 30, bones are naturally broken down faster than they are replaced. So the bone density slowly decreases over time. So it's more common to see osteoporosis in older age and in women more than men, because here's why. The lack of estrogen. After menopause, when the body lacks estrogen, there is an increase in osteoclasts and A decrease in osteoblasts. Interesting, right? So, as you can imagine, this is not great for bone strength. As the calcium is removed from the bone at a faster rate, then those osteoblasts can keep up with and build the bone. So with the decrease in estrogen around menopause, there is a higher risk of osteoporosis. So, you know, I always like to break down pathophysiology into simple steps for you to follow to help really make this process easier. So here it goes. Step number one, the osteoclasts continue to break down the bone, but osteoblasts aren't building up the bone as fast. Step number two, the bones become weaker and weaker over time as they are losing more of that bone density, like we said, because that calcium is going to the bloodstream and it isn't being replaced inside the bone. And then step number three is that the complications can occur, namely fractures, because those bones just aren't as strong. Right. Fractures are more likely to develop. Now, if you're studying musculoskeletal disorders in nursing school or you have an exam coming up soon, you have to make sure to check out this video where I break down the difference for you between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, because those are key disorders, key things to know about in nursing school and for the nclex. So don't miss that video. And as always, my friend, go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I will see you over there in that next video.