These two things go hand in hand. You're more likely to get calcium from drinking milk that contains vitamin D. Symptoms of Osteoporosis It's easy to confuse osteoporosis with arthritis because of the pain, but as Jacobs-Kosmin points out, osteoporosis usually doesn't develop noticeably until a breakage occurs. “Two-thirds of vertebral fractures are painless.” According to these results, pain is the most obvious sign of this disease. Because the bones are weak, fractures are more likely to occur, especially compression fractures which are found primarily in the vertebrae. A condition known as kyphosis, more common in older people, causes a loss of height and a backward curvature of the spins (Marieb 2010). Bone mineral density (BMD), which is a bone scan, is needed to determine, diagnose and measure bone density (medical news today). It is the most advanced technology in the field of X-ray imaging that allows you to see what is happening inside the bone. Osteoporosis is diagnosed when the T-score is lower -2.5.