Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by decreased bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, which increases bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures. In women, most cases of osteoporosis are attributable to aging and estrogen deficiency, which increases relative bone resorption. Hip fracture will affect more women than will breast cancer and uterine cancer combined. An aging population will dramatically increase the osteoporosis problem. Success on all 4 fronts will reduce the risk of osteoporotic fracture.
Osteoporosis increases the risk of fracture.
The bottom line is that it is hard to identify osteoporosis without measuring bone mineral density. Physicians understand that the best way to detect hypertension is to measure blood pressure in all patients. Clinicians have accepted that the best way to detect dyslipidemia is to measure cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides. To identify osteoporosis in menopausal women, we need to measure bone mineral density. Most authorities agree that a menopausal woman with a previous fracture should have a BMD measurement to establish whether she has osteoporosis.