Osteoporosis is a disease that attacks the bones in your body.

Ann Richards, fiery governor of Texas and voice of plain-spoken truth, once declared with candor and compassion: “Osteoporosis is a disease that attacks the bones in your body. It happens to really almost everyone when they get really old. But for women, after menopause, they can lose up to 30 percent of their bone mass.” In these words she revealed not only the frailty of the human frame but also the urgent need for knowledge and vigilance. To Richards, the fight against osteoporosis was not a matter of private suffering but of public awareness, for silence about the body leads only to needless pain.

The origin of this quote lies in Richards’ own confrontation with the disease. After leaving office, she was diagnosed with osteoporosis and became an advocate for women’s health, determined to strip away stigma and ignorance. In a culture that often silenced discussion of menopause and aging, Richards broke the taboo, speaking openly and urging women to act before their bones betrayed them. Her voice carried the authority not of theory but of lived struggle, transforming her private battle into a lesson for the many.

History shows that such candor is itself heroic. In ages past, diseases of women’s bodies were cloaked in secrecy, dismissed as weakness, or left untreated. Generations of women endured the slow crumbling of their bones without explanation, often becoming bent and frail, confined to silence. Only with the rise of medical science in the modern era did the cause become known, and only with advocates like Richards did awareness spread widely enough to arm women with knowledge. Her words shine as both testimony and weapon against ignorance.

The image of losing thirty percent of bone mass is more than medical fact—it is a symbol of the hidden costs women bear. Men, too, suffer the disease, but women carry the sharper burden because of nature’s rhythms, their very biology turned against them after years of childbearing and sacrifice. Richards, in lifting this truth to light, was also lifting the dignity of women, reminding them that their suffering was neither shameful nor inevitable, but a challenge to be met with courage and care.

Therefore, O seekers of wisdom, let her words be remembered not as a lament but as a call to vigilance. Osteoporosis, though ancient in its attack, need not conquer unopposed. By speaking truth, Richards armed her sisters with awareness, so that knowledge could be shield and strength could be preserved. Her teaching is eternal: the body, though fragile, can be defended by wisdom. For silence is weakness, but truth is power—and in truth lies the strength to endure even the crumbling of bones.