Age-Associated Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is characteristic of human aging with decreased bone mass, and particularly occurs in post-menopausal women or as a secondary manifestation of metabolic disease. The bone loss makes them vulnerable to fractures. Osteologic studies of skeletons from free-ranging chimpanzees have demonstrated similar findings with loss of cortical bone.  The human skeleton is unique in having low trabecular density representing a lightly built human body form. However, recent results show that trabecular density remained high throughout human evolution until it decreased significantly in recent modern humans, suggesting a possible link between changes in our skeleton and increased sedentism