Caption

Osteoporosis. False-colour dual photon densito- metry scan of the hip bones in a post-menopausal woman suffering osteoporosis (brittle bone disease). At upper centre is the hip joint where the femur bone of the thigh (lower right) articulates with the pelvic bone (upper left). The colour-coding shows the variation in bone mineral density, from yellow (most dense) through blue to purple (least dense). A reduction in normal bone density is seen at the hip joint, due to osteo- porosis. Osteoporosis primarily affects post- menopausal women, due to the influence of ovarian hormones on bone replacement. The hip is commonly affected, leading to a greater risk of fracture.