The opinions given by Dr. Rude are his and his alone. If you have specific questions or are concerned about your health, please consult your personal physician. This event is for information purposes only. Let's begin by defining osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a standard definition and is characterized by a low bone mass, which is a deterioration of bone that leads to increased fragility of the bone and thereby an increased risk of fracture.
Osteoporosis is quite prevalent.
It's especially common in women, and in fact, one out of five patients of osteoporosis are men, but four out of five are women. It's prevalent now, and as our population ages, it's estimated that the problem will increase over the next 15 or 20 years, or so. If you translate that into the clinical problem, which is fracture, we know now that there are about 1.5 million fractures a year due to osteoporosis. In fact, a woman aged 50 today has approximately a 40 percent chance of having a fracture during her life if the osteoporosis is not detected, treated, or prevented. The first, of course, is age.