Osteoporosis historical perspective

Osteoporosis was first discovered by John Hunter, a British surgeon, in 1800’s and he was also the first to introduce the process of remodeling. Jean Lobstein, a French pathologist during 1830’s, found that there are normal holes in every bone but bones in people with specific age and diseases, have holes of larger than normal size. He named this kind of bone as porous, and the disease was named as osteoporosis.

The historical perspective of osteoporosis has been given below:

• 4000 years old Egyptian mummies showed the first sign of osteoporosis known as “Dowager’s hump”. Bones with holes, were seen for the first time during this period.
• John Hunter found that the bones in the human body turn over continuously. When some old or dysfunctioned bone tissue is eliminated, it is substituted by new tissue. This process later became to be known as remodeling.
• In 1830’s, Jean Lobstein, a French pathologist, found that there are holes in every bone; but bones of people of specific age and suffering from certain diseases may have bigger holes than normal. Jean Lobstein named this kind of bone as porous, and the disease was named as osteoporosis.^[1]
• In 1830’s, the association between age-related reductions in bone density and fracture risk was determined by Astley Cooper. The recognition of the pathological appearance of osteoporosis is attributed to the French pathologist, Lobstein.^[2]
• In 1940’s, an American endocrinologist, Fuller Albright from Massachusetts General Hospital, established an association between osteoporosis and postmenopausal state. Fuller Albright started the treatment of menopausal women with estrogen in order to prevent bone loss.^[3]
• In 1960’s, researchers developed more sensitive methods to detect early bone loss, such as bone densitometers.
• In 1960’s, bisphosphonates which inhibit bone resorption, revolutionized the treatment of osteoporosis after they were discovered by Herbert Fleisch.^[4]
• In 1984, the National Institute of Health (NIH) declared osteoporosis as a significant threat to health and the possibility that bone loss may be reduced by estrogen therapy, calcium supplementation, good nutrition, and exercise.^[5]
• In 1980’s and 1990’s researchers discovered the specific cytokines which influence the activity of osteoclasts, the components that lead to bone breakdown.^[6]
• In 1994, World Health Organization (WHO) first used T-score for classification of various amounts of bone mineral density (BMD). The sample population consisted of young, healthy individuals, matched for sex and race.^[7]
• In 1998, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), such as raloxifene, were introduced in the market. SERMs also help with the treatment of breast tumors and stimulate the growth of uterine cells.^[8]

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