Review: Aging Bones: A Short History of Osetoporosis (Gerald N. Grob)

In referring to pre-WWII approaches to the study of aging and gerontology, Gerald Grob refers to the prevailing paradigm of, "Old age itself was generally offered as the cause of death" (pg.3).This idea permeated clinical and anthropological studies until recently, and is at the foundation of Grob's Aging Bones: A Short History of Osteoporosis.This book, part of John Hopkins' series 'Biographies of Disease', traces the origins, attitudes, diagnosis, and treatments of osteoporosis from clinical and cultural viewpoints.The book begins with the changing views towards aging in the 18th and 19th centuries, tracing the rise of a pejorative attitude towards "old age" from one of reverence to that of a diminished and devalued population at the fringes of medical research.During this time, clinicians saw age itself as a disease, and 'senescence' synonymous with 'decline'.The opening of this work provides an account of the increase in childhood survival rates, concomitant with the decrease of infectious diseases during the late 19th century, as the primary factor behind the rise in the number of "old" and "very old" in changing national demography.These changes led to an increase in deaths from chronic diseases such as heart disease and neoplasms, with osteoporosis remaining an amorphous, fringe malady of the elderly.Coupled with the rise of endocrinology and a better of understanding of bone physiology, nutrition, and bone fracture mechanics throughout the early-20th century, Grob weaves medical and social history together in Chapters 2 and 3 to paint a picture of the evolving views of osteoporosis and bone biology.Central to the discussion are the roles of age and sex in disease and the notions that the likelihood of contracting many diseases increases with age (e.g., heart disease, cancer).Therefore was the rise in osteoporotic patients simply a product of an aging population, or was it fundamentally linked to metabolic dysfunction?Simply put, at what point does a seemingly normal aging process become a disease (pg.42)?

Abstract licence: CC BY

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.