rarefying disease of the skeleton 415 



The Progress of Osteoporosis in Five- Year 

 Radiographic Survey of Aged Females 



The survey of 100 women with average age of 85, in residence at 

 an Eastern Star Home in Los Angeles, was made in 1957 and re- 

 ported at the Lankenau Hospital Conference in 1958 ( Urist, lQ60b ) . 



TABLE III. Five-Year Follow-up Radiographic Examinations 



OF 100 White Females, Average Age 85, Previously Reported 



BY Urist (19606) 



Radiologic observations Per cent 



Osteoporosis (diagnosis based on collapsed vertebrae and ballooned discs 



in 1957) 26 

 Deaths in group of both nonosteoporotics and osteoporotics in period 



1957-1962, ages 70 to 103 75 



Survivors with osteoporosis, ages 74 to 89 3 



Survivors without osteoporosis, ages 71 to 91 22 



Further fractures in osteoporotics, 1957-1962 10 



Further fractures in nonosteoporotics, 1957-1962 

 Additional cases of osteoiDorosis appearing in 22 survivors previously free 



of compression fractures of the spine 



Table III presents the results of a second radiographic survey de- 

 signed to determine whether additional cases of the disorder (as 

 diagnosed by collapsed vertebrae ) appeared during a 5-year period 

 in previously unafflicted individuals. In addition, there was also 

 the question whether the disorder (also determined by the number 

 of collapsed vertebrae ) progressed in proportion to a period of time 

 in the course of aging. Only 25 per cent of the women survived the 

 period between 1957 and 1962; 22 per cent were nonosteoporotics 

 and 3 per cent were osteoporotics. Ten per cent of the osteoporotics, 

 but none of the nonosteoporotics, were treated for further fractures 

 or spontaneous collapses of vertebral bodies during the 5 years. Thus, 

 it appeared that the disorder was progressive in patients who had 

 the disease, but was not incurred bv others who had reached the 

 8th and 9th decades of life. This was clearly evident from the radio- 

 graphs of 22 women, with an average age of almost 88, who, as yet, 

 had no collapsed vertebrae. It was also evident that osteoporosis 

 generally occurred at a much earlier age, possibly between 50 and 



