The latest National Osteoporosis Foundation report shows that 30
million U.S. women over 55 suffer from low bone mass or
osteoporosis. What may surprise many, though, is that 14 million
men over do, too.
The number with osteopenia, or bone loss that’s not as severe as
osteoporosis, has climbed dramatically since 1977, said Marilyn
Wright, an Extension Service food, health and nutrition
specialist with the University of Georgia College of Family and
Consumer Sciences.
The 1977 NOF report said 28 million women and men over 55 had
bone loss and 10 million had osteoporosis, Wright said. Of the 10
million with osteoporosis, 8 million were women and 2 million
men. Those numbers haven’t changed.
Bone-loss Numbers Skyrocket
The number of people estimated to have osteopenia, however, has
leaped from 18 million in 1997 to 34 million now. Of that number,
22 million are women and 12 million men.
The report, titled “America’s Bone Health: The State of
Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in Our Nation,” doesn’t say why
the increase in the number of people with osteopenia was so
stunning.
But Wright suspects it’s “very likely that the increased
awareness of screening and/or diagnostic tools and insurance
coverage of these have led to more folks being identified,” she
said. “And, of course, the increasing numbers of boomers age 55
or older.”
High Medical Costs
The loss of bone density puts people at a higher risk of
osteoporosis, which makes bones brittle and easy to break. The
NOR report estimates medical costs for treating
osteoporosis-related fractures at $17 billion per year.
The number of women with bone loss or osteoporosis is almost
double that of men in all age categories.
“Men have advantages that help them avoid bone loss,” Wright
said. “First, they usually build more bone and muscle mass than
women. So when bone loss starts in middle age, a majority of men
have more to spare.”
It may take decades of bone loss before men reach clinical low
bone mass or osteoporosis. “But with men living longer,” Wright
added, “more will likely be diagnosed in the future.”
Risk Factors
Men do, however, have risk factors, most similar to those
associated with women.
“Most men with bone loss have one or more habits that place them
at risk: sedentary lifestyle, low calcium intake, smoking
cigarettes, excessive alcohol intake,” Wright said.
“Others have low testosterone levels or take medications, like
corticosteroids, that cause bone loss,” she said. “Men with
prostate cancer treated with certain hormone agonists are
susceptible to bone loss.”
Many consider bone loss and osteoporosis to be a disease of old
age. But Wright calls it a disease of geriatrics that begins in
pediatrics.
Build, Keep Healthy Bones
“Adequate bone mass has to be laid down by adolescence or early
adulthood so the body can handle the natural decline that starts
in middle age,” she said.
To build and keep healthy bones:
- Eat a balanced diet that’s rich in vegetables and fruits and
has enough calcium and vitamin D. - Get regular weight-bearing exercise.
- Live a healthy lifestyle, with no smoking or excessive
alcohol use. - Have your bone density tested and take medications when
appropriate.
Information Sites
May is National Osteoporosis Prevention Month. For more
information visit www.nof.org.
To learn more, visit these Web
sites as well:
