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Writer's picturePRANJALI KOHAD

Small guide on calcium deficiency and osteoporosis

Updated: Nov 17, 2021

What is calcium?


Calcium is also a crucial mineral present in the human body. Calcium is stored in the body, teeth, bones, blood, muscles, and the fluid between the cells.


Human body performance depends on an abundance of calcium as it is a vital mineral.



Calcium plays a crucial role in proper muscle contraction. Calcium plays a significant role in the transportation of ions across the cellular membrane, it has the responsibility to maintain a steady heartbeat. Most people get calcium by eating a variety of calcium-rich food.


What is calcium deficiency?



Calcium deficiency is generally known as a condition in which the body has an insufficient amount of calcium.


Types of calcium deficiency:


Dietary calcium deficiency is a disorder when you lack calcium in your diet. This condition can be recovered by proper intake of a calcium-rich diet.


Hypocalcemia is a condition when the body has a low level of calcium in the blood. It can occur from taking medication, such as diuretics, medical treatment, or disease processes, such as renal failure or hypoparathyroidism.


A poor diet will not lead to hypoglycemia every time. The body can maintain its need by absorbing the calcium from bones. But as you are uninformed with your deficiency it will lead to improper functioning of nerves, muscles, brain, and heart.


Calcium deficiency can lead to critical complexity. It includes things such as hypertension (high blood pressure), osteoporosis, and cardiac arrest.


What are the symptoms of calcium deficiency?

The symptoms of calcium deficiency change according to the type of calcium deficiency.


Symptoms of dietary calcium deficiency


It's problematic to observe the symptoms of dietary calcium deficiency because they are not visible and occur in internal problems like bone thinning or fracture.



Symptoms take years to develop and may not be noticeable until advanced osteoporosis has developed. Symptoms can include:


• Loss of height

• Back or neck pain

• Fracture that occurs with very small or no trauma

• Bone pain or tenderness


Symptoms of hypoglycemia


Symptoms of hypoglycemia in the blood differ from dietary calcium deficiency. Some may experience no symptoms, while others may have the following symptoms:


• Muscle cramps

• Numbness

• memory loss or confusion

• hallucination

• easy fracturing of bone

• weak and brittle nails

• depression

• poor appetite


Role of Vitamin D



Vitamin D is essential for the absorption of calcium in the blood. Maybe you have a calcium-rich diet. But insufficient vitamin D will fail to absorb the calcium in the body. Consult a doctor on how much vitamin D you need. Daily exposure to sunlight can also help boost your vitamin D levels. It activates your body to make vitamin D.


How is calcium deficiency treated?



It is a recommendation to talk with medical professionals about your treatment. They will take a medical history, including asking about the presence of low calcium levels or osteoporosis in family members, and conduct a blood test to confirm. Your doctor may choose to treat with calcium supplements or simply through sustained lifestyle modifications by seeing the severity of the deficiency. Simply by including more calcium-rich foods into your daily diet.


What is osteoporosis?


'Osteoporosis' means 'porous bones. It also means that you have less bone mass and strength. It is a bone disease that makes bones weak and brittle. This condition makes you vulnerable to mild stresses such as bending over or coughing and can cause you to fracture. The disease evolves without pain or symptoms and remains undetected until the weaker bones cause a painful fracture.


The healthy bone has the appearance of small spaces like a honeycomb. Osteoporosis increases the size of these spaces and resulting in the bone losing density and strength. The bones become thinner and weaker. Osteoporosis affects anyone irrespective of their gender, but women are most likely to get affected by it.


What are the symptoms of osteoporosis?


Osteoporosis is titled a silent disease because usually, it shows no symptoms.

But once your bones have been weakened, you might see symptoms are-

  • Loss of height

  • Improper posture

  • Lower back pain

  • Bone fracture

  • Breathing shortness


What causes osteoporosis?


Studies show how osteoporosis develops the correct cause of why it evolves is unknown. The bones of your body are made of living growing tissue. The healthy bone looks like a sponge from inside, this area is known as trabecular bone. The spongy bone is wrapped by the outer shell of the dense bone. This hard shell is known as cortical bone.


When someone has osteoporosis, the "holes" in the "sponge" grow larger and enormous, which weaken the bone from inside. Bones store calcium, other minerals, and support the body, protecting the vital organ. The body fulfills its calcium requirement by breaking down and rebuilding bones. This process is known as bone remodeling. It supplies needed calcium to the body and keeps the bones strong.



Your body builds more bones than you lose when you are younger. After a certain age, bone breakdowns happen more rapidly than bone buildup. If you have osteoporosis it leads to a reduction of bone mass at a greater rate. In women, after menopause due to hormonal changes, the rate of bone loss increases.


Osteoporosis risk factors


  • Sex: postmenopausal women have more risk of developing osteoporosis. Because menopause drops the production of estrogen hormone, which protects against excessive bone loss.

  • Age: Everyone's risk for osteoporosis increases with age.

  • Family history: If someone in your family has signs of hip fracture or less bone density, you may risk developing it.

  • Medical conditions: If you have any medical issues which are related to hormonal imbalance you are likely to develop the disease.

  • Bone structure: A thin person has a greater risk of osteoporosis in contrast to a more body weighted person because they have less bone mass.


How is osteoporosis treated?


There are several types of medications for the treatment of osteoporosis. A medical professional can only suggest the best fit medications for you.


Prevention is better than cure so take care of your body by switching to a healthy lifestyle.


Stay fit!


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