Question

mary , an elderly white woman noticed that she was half an inch shorter than she was at her last doctor's visit. her doctor suggested she begins a regimen of dietary supplements of calcium and vitamin D, what bone disease did the doctor suspect.

Answer 1

The bone disease suspected here is osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition when bones become brittle and weak. Due to this brittleness the bones in the spine generally thoracic spine tends to break which causes height loss and person becomes shorter in height. Osteoporosis happens when less bone is formed and more bone is lost. The bones becomes porus and looses density and strength hence it becomes fragile in nature. In women change in hormones levels after menopause leads to bone loss which causes osteoporosis. It is also more common in white skinned people as in this case. Treatment involves intake of calcium supplements and Vitamin D.