Osteoporosis solely a woman's disease?

Osteoporosis, which means "porous bones," is a bone-thinning disease that can lead to debilitating fractures, typically in the spine, hip and wrist.

Osteoporosis in men is not a rare problem - it is an important clinical issue for men, just as it is for women.

Osteoporosis develops less often in men than in women because men have larger skeletons, bone loss starts later and progresses more slowly, and there is no period of rapid hormonal change (menopause, for eg) and accompanying rapid bone loss.

Also, bone loss begins later and advances more slowly in men than in women.

Men are estimated to lose bone mineral density (BMD) at a rate of up to 1% per year with advancing age, and one in eight men over age 50 years will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.

Of all osteoporotic fractures, hip fractures contribute to the greatest morbidity as well as mortality, both of which are much greater in men than in women. Almost 30% of all hip fractures occur in men.

With the increasing size of our aging population and the improving longevity of men, osteoporosis in men will soon become an even greater burden to society and health care systems worldwide.

Thus it is important that we exercise preventive care to mitigate the impact of this important health issue.

The prevention of osteoporosis centres on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, adequate daily intake of calcium and vitamin D.

General Preventive and Lifestyle Measures^1,2

• 30 minutes of weight-bearing exercise, including resistance training to improve muscle mass, strength and balance, performed at least 3 times per week
• Adequate calcium intake (minimum 1000mg/day) through diet, supplements, or both
• Adequate vitamin D intake (800-2000IU of vitamin D per day, especially for men >65 years ofage; target serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D ³ 60nmol/L)
• Smoking cessation
• Avoidance of excessive alcohol use³
• Use of fall-prevention programs, including home-based interventions, visual assessment, balance exercises (eg. Tai Chi) and muscle strengthening
  

There are usually no signs or symptoms of osteoporosis until a fracture occurs. The diagnosis of osteoporosis is based on measuring BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) that is able to measure bone density in the hip, spine and total body.

However, preliminary screening can be done in an office environment using a simple, non-invasive and painless exam to measure bone mass in the finger, wrist, kneecap, shin bone and heel.

A bone density scan requires little preparation. You may eat normally and take medications as prescribed by your doctor the morning of your test.

The only restrictions are:

• Do not take any vitamin pills or mineral supplements the morning of your exam.
• You must not have any exams involving barium or radioisotopes within the last month. These scans interfere with the bone density results.

Remember, gentlemen and ladies, Thursday 3 June 2010, 11am to 2pm

1. Healthy Bones for all Australians for life.

2 .Appropriate intake of calcium and vitamin D should be encouraged from childhood.

3 .Excessive alcohol use is defined as daily intake of more than 2 standard drinks per day

4. Khosla S, Amin S, Orwoll E. Osteoporosis in men. Endocr Rev. 2008 Jun;29(4):441-64.

5. Cartoon source