The Etiology of Osteoporosis

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Abstract
THE cause of senile osteoporosis is unknown. There have been several pieces of evidence suggesting that excessive or unbalanced action of parathyroid hormone may be responsible.2 We have now demonstrated that old persons with senile osteoporosis have high levels of serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), that PTH levels are related to the degree of osteoporosis as measured morphometrically in the second metacarpal bone, and that PTH levels are directly correlated with blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels, which are significantly higher in old people. Methods Two groups of volunteers were studied: a young group of healthy army conscripts or healthy student nurses, 18 to 19 years of age, and an elderly group of otherwise healthy residents of the Beersheva Old People's Home, 65 years of age and over (mean age, 76.8 years). Roentgenographic examination of the hands was performed under standard conditions without a grid. The "area ratio" of the second

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