Osteoporosis: It is Not Just A Woman’s Disease

• 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men over age 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.

• After a hip fracture, 20% of women and 33% of men will die within a year.

• Men are significantly less likely to be diagnosed or treated, even after a fracture.

According to a recent article in MedPage Today, men are more likely to die from a major osteoporotic fracture (fractures to the wrist, hip, femur, humerus, pelvis, or vertebra) than from prostate cancer. Among the 3000 male veterans ages 65 to 85 studied, only 2% of those in the control group had undergone bone density screening.

This needs to change, for both prevention and survival.

Warning Signs
Bone loss is silent. We can’t feel our bones are weakening. But there can be some warning signs.

Did you know that a wrist fracture could be an early warning sign of osteoporosis? Wrist fractures often occur 10–15 years before a more serious break, like a hip or spinal fracture, but they’re frequently brushed off, especially in men.

If you’ve had a low-trauma fracture (like slipping on ice or tripping on a curb), your body may already be showing signs of weakened bones. This is the moment to investigate, not wait for something worse to happen. A broken bone is one early warning sign. Height loss, muscle weakness, reduced grip strength, dental issues, and brittle nails can also be early warning signs in both men and women.

Threats to Your Bones
Bone loss can be accelerated by things you may not expect, such as chronic disease and medications.

Diseases That Impact Bone Health:

• Celiac disease

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Type 1 diabetes

• Hyperthyroidism

• IBD (Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis)

• Chronic kidney disease

• Lupus

These conditions often interfere with nutrient absorption, affect hormone regulation, or contribute to inflammation, all of which directly affect your bone density.

Common Medications That Weaken Bones:

• Corticosteroids (prednisone)

• Proton pump inhibitors (e.g., omeprazole)

• SSRIs (for anxiety or depression)

• Anti-seizure drugs

• Thyroid hormone (in high doses)

• Cancer treatments (especially aromatase inhibitors)

Whether you’re a man in your 60s or a woman approaching menopause, it’s never too late to make your bones stronger.

The first step is to assess your risk and get tested. I will be talking about the diet and lifestyle habits that improve and build bone health in my next newsletter, so stay tuned.

Get Tested
Sometimes medical practitioners are very proactive about bone health and recommend DEXA or other bone scans to assess bone health; other times, we as patients need to take the lead and ask for bone density scans.

I believe that you can’t fix what you don’t know.

If you have a family member who suffers from osteoporosis, you have one of the diseases listed above, or take one of the medications listed, and your medical professional has not talked to you about your bone health, I encourage you to bring it up and ask questions.