"You're talking about a kid who's had a million stress fractures all the way through his life and he's always going to have a back that will cause him problems, " Richardson said.

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But there is a minority view, that they are not real fractures at all but merely indicate anomalies in bone growth.

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She died with fractures to all her limbs.

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Dr. Bess Dawson-Hughes, president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, counters that it would be a mistake to exclude all women with osteopenia from treatment, since most fractures occur in this group.

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In osteoporosis the RANK ligand protein is all too effective in producing the breakdown effect, resulting in debilitating hip fractures in postmenopausal women and others.

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He had fractures to his legs and one arm and injuries to the back of his eyes, which had all been caused when Hathaway shook him, the court was told.

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Mr Ratheram, whose injuries included nine fractures to his spine and broken ribs, said he knows that he will never be able to do all the things he used to.

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