Osteoporosis is an inevitable part of aging.
Osteoporosis, for the most part, is preventable. Prevention of osteoporosis should begin in early childhood and continue throughout the stages of life. Building a strong skeleton during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood may help individuals avoid osteoporosis later in life.
There are five steps that can optimize bone health and help prevent osteoporosis. They are: a balanced diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, weight-bearing exercise, a healthy lifestyle with no smoking or excessive alcohol intake, talking to your doctor about bone health, and bone density testing and medication when appropriate.
Continuing or starting preventive measures even after fractures have occurred is important; this will minimize further bone loss and help prevent additional fractures and more severe disability.
Only older women get osteoporosis.
Women and men can develop osteoporosis at any age, especially if they have a chronic condition such as asthma or arthritis that requires treatment with medications such as glucocorticoids (e.g. prednisone) that can lead to bone loss.
Only Caucasian women get osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is not very common.
Half of women over the age of 50 will have an osteoporotic fracture beforethey die.
Osteoporosis isn't a serious or deadly condition.
The consequences of osteoporosis are devastating and painful. Hip fractures, which occur about twice as often in women as in men, are more serious than people realize: approximately 20 percent of hip fracture patients will die in the year after fracture, usually from complications such as pneumonia or blood clots in the lung, which are related to the fracture or to the surgery to repair the fracture.
Frail, elderly women and men who have suffered multiple fractures in the upper spine may develop stooped posture, or "kyphosis". They often have chronic lower back and side pain and difficulty walking. In extreme cases, people have trouble breathing and eating.
Medical costs from osteoporosis aren't high.
If I had osteoporosis, I would know it.
No, not usually. Osteoporosis is often called "the silent disease" because it progresses slowly over time, without symptoms, until a fracture occurs. For example, many people continue to assume height loss is a normal part of aging. However, it may be due to a collapse in the bones of the spine, called vertebrae, weakened by osteoporosis. NOF advises everyone to routinely monitor their height and talk to their healthcare provider if they notice a loss of more than an inch. Patients often don't realize they have osteoporosis or are even at risk until they suffer a fracture – most commonly of the hip, spine or wrist – after a fall or from doing ordinary activities. At this point, they have already suffered the consequences of osteoporosis.
Certain people are more likely to develop osteoporosis than others. Factors that increase the likelihood of developing osteoporosis include being female, having a personal history of fracture as an adult, current smoking, current low bone mass, being thin and/or having a small frame, advanced age, or a family history of osteoporosis. For a complete listing of osteoporosis risk factors, please contact National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Once I have osteoporosis, there is nothing I can do about it.