Images Dated 22nd May 1992

colour X-ray of upper femur with osteoporosis

Osteoporosis. False-colour X-ray of the upper part of a femur (thigh bone) affected by osteoporosis. In osteoporosis the density of bone tissues decreases increasing the brittleness of the bones and the probability of fractures. When the upper femur is affected fractures of the neck, coloured here in yellow-orange, are very common. Bones naturally become thinner as a person ages. Significant osteoporosis usually affects women, above all after the menopause, because their ovaries no longer produce oestrogen hormones which help to maintain bone mass. By the age of 75 about half of all women have suffered from at least one fracture due to osteoporosis

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