What are Fractures?
A fracture is the medical term for a broken bone. Fractures are common; the average person has two during a lifetime. They occur when the physical force exerted on the bone is stronger than the bone itself. Your risk of fracture depends, in part, on your age. Broken bones are very common in childhood, though children’s fractures are generally less complicated than fractures in adults. As you age, your bones become more brittle and you are more likely to suffer fractures from falls that would not occur when you were young. There are many types of fractures, but the main categories are displaced, non-displaced, open, and closed. Displaced and non-displaced fractures refer to the way the bone breaks. In a displaced fracture, the bone snaps into two or more parts; if the bone is in many pieces, it is considered comminuted. In a non-displaced fracture, the bone cracks either part or all of the way through, but does move and maintains its proper alignment. A closed fracture is when the bone
Related Questions
- Why do Asians consume little or no calcium and suffer less from osteoporosis and bone fractures than Scandinavians or Americans, who are major consumers of milk products?
- What does this study tell us, should we still take CaD in an effort to decrease our risk of osteoporosis or at least prevent hip fractures?
- Where is the evidence that osteoporosis causes bone fractures?
