Osteoporosis Osteoporosis Statistics 28 million people are affected in the United States. Women are affected four times as often as men. One out of two women and one in eight men over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.
Osteoporosis is a disease of the skeletal system.
The bones lose density, become brittle and prone to fracture. It is the major cause of bone fractures in older people, especially postmenopausal women. A certain amount of bone density is lost as a part of aging. During the mid-30s, everyone begins to lose very small amounts of bone. There are certain risk factors that increase a person's chance of having osteoporosis.