Why young Indians in their 20s are developing brittle bones

Recently, a 22-year-old woman walked into an orthopaedic surgeon’s room with complaints of fatigue and joint pain that refused to go away. She had a history of hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian disease but, at her age, bone-related complications seemed unlikely. The doctor recommended a bone density scan and, to his surprise, found the onset of osteopenia — bone loss due to aging and other factors.

For the first time in his 20 years of practice, Dr Mahesh MN, who works at Sathya Sai Orthopaedic Multi-Speciality Hospital in Bengaluru, is noticing a startling trend of osteopenia cases in young adults. Most of them report lethargy, bone pain and frequent fractures after small injuries. “What was common among women in their 40s can now be seen in 20-year-olds,” says Dr Mahesh. “Back in the 2000s when I started my practice, osteopenia was considered a common bone condition among the elderly, but now it is striking the young.”