Osteoporosis from yesterday to today: A narrative review

Despite different lifestyles, humankind has suffered from osteoporosis for thousands of years. A literature review concerning the history of osteoporosis in the following databases: Index Medicus, Medline, PubMed, and PMC Citations was done. In the final analysis, 18 review articles and 31 original papers were included. The works were published during the period 1705-2020. Although there is evidence of the existence of osteoporosis for many centuries, it was first described as a disease at the beginning of the 18th century. It was first perceived as an unavoidable course of aging with no possibility to cure. This approach changed only in the 20th century thanks to sudden diagnostic and therapeutic progress. This paper presents the milestones and most important researchers in osteoporosis history. Rapid progress in diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities sheds new light on osteoporosis’ nature. A comprehensive outlook on its history may help find answers for the still unsolved problems of this disease. Unatoč različitim stilovima života, čovječanstvo već tisućama godina pati od osteoporoze. Pregled literature o povijesti osteoporoze proveden je u sljedećim bazama podataka: Index Medicus, Medline, PubMed i PMC Citations. Konačna analiza obuhvatila je 18 preglednih članaka i 31 izvorni rad. Radovi su objavljeni u razdoblju 1705. – 2020. Iako već stoljećima postoje dokazi o njezinu postojanju, osteoporoza je početkom 18. stoljeća prvi put opisana kao bolest. Isprva se na nju gledalo kao na neizbježan tijek starenja bez mogućnosti izlječenja. Taj se pristup promijenio tek u 20. stoljeću zahvaljujući naglom napretku u dijagnostičkim metodama i terapiji. U ovom su radu prikazane velike prekretnice i predstavljeni najutjecajniji istraživači u povijesti osteoporoze. Brz napredak u dijagnostičkim i terapijskim mogućnostima baca novo svjetlo na prirodu osteoporoze. Sveobuhvatan pogled na njezinu povijest mogao bi pomoći u pronalaženju odgovora na još uvijek neriješena pitanja vezana uz ovu bolest.