Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a loss of bone density and bone quality that leaves bone weak enough to break from a minor fall. The spine, the hip, and the wrist break most often.
Estrogen protects bone and progesterone helps build it, so years of low hormone levels raise the risk. Long stretches of cycles without ovulation, early menopause, very low body weight, and medicines that suppress ovarian hormones all count. Bone is a use it or lose it tissue.
The loss is quiet and often missed. Among 2,187 Canadian men aged 50 and older, 9 in 10 of those who broke a bone from a minor injury were still untreated five years later.1
Cited in this entry
- Papaioannou A, Kennedy CC, Ioannidis G, Gao Y, Sawka AM, Goltzman D, Tenenhouse A, Pickard L, Olszynski WP, Davison KS, Kaiser S, Josse RG, Kreiger N, Hanley DA, Prior JC, Brown JP, Anastassiades T, Adachi JD, CaMos Research Group. The osteoporosis care gap in men with fragility fractures: the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study. Osteoporosis International : a Journal Established As Result of Cooperation Between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA. 2008. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17924051/
This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult an RRM clinician or healthcare provider for guidance specific to your situation.
