Part 1: Understanding Osteoporosis

Yes, that is a false statement. Men are not immune to osteoporosis.

While less than half of men think it is somewhat likely that a man will develop osteoporosis, there are 2 million American men who presently have this disease, and another 3.5 million are at high risk to develop osteoporosis. It will affect one in eight men over the age of 50, and by age 75, one-third of all men are affected. Each year, 80,000 men suffer a hip fracture and one-third of these men die within a year. And according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, American men over the age of 50 have a greater risk of suffering an osteoporotic-related fracture than developing clinical prostate cancer. And since the population of elderly men is rapidly increasing, this disease will soon become a major public health issue.

The men most at risk are those who smoke, drink alcohol moderately, fail to maintain a calcium-rich diet, have a sedentary lifestyle, or have a family history of fractures. What makes this problem even more serious is that these men do not see themselves at risk, nor have their physicians informed them of this potential hazard. Interestingly enough, a Gallup poll showed that fewer than two percent of men had been warned by their physician that they might be at risk for osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis develops less often in men than in women because men have larger skeletons with a greater cross-sectional area, their bone loss starts later in life and progresses slower, and they do not experience the period of rapid hormonal change with accompanying bone loss that women do when they undergo menopause. Women will lose bone mass rapidly in the years following menopause, however by the age of 65 or 70, women and men lose bone mass at the same rate. Calcium absorption decreases in both sexes at this time, also.

Also, men attain an initial higher peak bone mass than women - approximately 25 percent more, so they have more bone to lose before they reach a critical point where fractures can occur easily.

Men and women both start to lose bone mass in their 30's or early 40's, however the process is slower for men. While a woman can lose 0.5 to 1% of her bone in these critical years, a man may lose only 0.3% annually.