In this Article

• What is osteoporosis?
• What are the symptoms of osteoporosis?
• What are the consequences of osteoporosis?
• Why is osteoporosis an important public health issue?
• What factors determine bone strength?
• What are risk factors for developing and causes of osteoporosis?
• How is osteoporosis diagnosed?
• Who should have bone density testing?
• How is osteoporosis treated and prevented?
• Exercise, quitting cigarettes, and curtailing alcohol
• Calcium supplements
• Vitamin D
• Hormone therapy (hormone replacement therapy, menopausal replacement therapy)
• Medications that prevent bone loss and breakdown
• Choosing an osteoporosis medication
• Prevention of osteoporosis caused by long term corticosteroids
• Monitoring osteoporosis therapy medication
• Prevention of hip fractures in elderly persons with osteoporosis
• Osteoporosis At A Glance
• Osteoporosis Glossary
• Osteoporosis Index

What are the consequences of osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis bone fractures are responsible for considerable pain, decreased quality of life, lost workdays, and disability. Up to 30% of patients suffering a hip fracture will require long term nursing home care. Elderly patients can further develop pneumonia and blood clots in the leg veins that can travel to the lungs (pulmonary embolism) due to prolonged bed rest after a hip fracture. Some 20% of women with a hip fracture will die in the subsequent year as an indirect result of the fracture. In addition, once a person has experienced a spine fracture due to osteoporosis, he or she is at very high risk of suffering another such fracture in the near future (next few years). About 20% of postmenopausal women who experience a vertebral fracture will suffer a new vertebral fracture of bone in the following year.

Why is osteoporosis an important public health issue?

• In the United States, 44 million people have low bone density (either osteoporosis or osteopenia, see below). This amounts to 55% of the U.S. population 50 years-old and over.

• In the U.S., more than 10 million people have osteoporosis and almost 34 million more have low bone density.

• One in two white women will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis in her lifetime.

• In the United States, direct health care costs from osteoporosis fractures amount to billion dollars, without even taking into account the indirect costs, such as lost work productivity.

• Twenty percent of those who experience a hip fracture will die in the year following the fracture.

• One-third of hip fracture patients are discharged to a nursing home within the year after fracture.

• Only one-third of hip fracture patients regain their pre-fracture level of function.

With the aging of America, the number of people with osteoporosis related fractures will increase exponentially. The pain, suffering, and economic costs will be enormous.

Osteoporosis - Symptoms at Onset of Disease

The MedicineNet physician editors ask:

The symptoms of osteoporosis can vary greatly from patient to patient. What were your symptoms at the onset of your disease?

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