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Know the Facts about Brittle BonesDon’t wait until you break a hip to learn how you can prevent or slow bone loss Half of all women over 50 will develop osteoporosis. And it’s not just a disease of women. More than 2 million men have osteoporosis, too.Osteoporosis is a disease where your bones get thin and weak. Osteo = bone and porosis = not solid (porous). When you have osteoporosis, your bones get brittle. That means they break more easily. The hip, spine, arms and legs are common places to have fractures caused by osteoporosis. Even though osteoporosis is very common, it is called “the silent disease.” It has no obvious symptoms. If you don’t get tested for osteoporosis, you might not know you have it until you break a bone. If you are over 50, have gone through change of life (menopause), or have another risk factor, make sure your family doctor or gynecologist knows you are concerned about osteoporosis. Your Personal Risk for OsteoporosisEveryone can get osteoporosis, but some people have more risk for this common disease. Remember, even if you don’t have one of the risk factors, you can still get osteoporosis.Your biggest overall risk factor is being a woman. That’s because women start with less bone tissue than men and lose it faster. The second biggest risk is menopause. Women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause. Here are other risk factors you should know about:
This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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