Osteoporosis is the leading cause of disabling and often life-threatening fractures in elderly women. This paper discusses risk factors in osteoporosis such as heredity, race, age, sex, diet, and exercise, as well as disease related causes of bone loss. Early symptoms, clinical findings, and currently used diagnostic techniques are reviewed. And the management of osteoporosis- both treatment of symptomatic disease and its sequelae, and preventive measures designed to maintain skeletal mass and integrity- is described.