What is Osteoporosis ?

Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans. In the U.S. today, 10 million individuals are estimated to already have the disease and almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis.
Of the 10 million Americans estimated to have osteoporosis, eight million are women and 2 million are men. 34 million Americans, or 55% of the people 50 years of age and older, have low bone mass, which puts them at increased risk of developing osteoporosis and related fractures. Significant risk has been reported in people of all ethnic backgrounds. While osteoporosis is often thought of as an older person's disease, it can strike at any age. Eighty percent of those affected by osteoporosis are women. Five percent of non-Hispanic black women over age 50 are estimated to have osteoporosis; an estimated additional 35 percent have low bone mass that puts them at risk of developing osteoporosis. Ten percent of Hispanic women age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis, and 49 percent are estimated to have low bone mass. Twenty percent of non-Hispanic white and Asian women age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis, and 52 percent are estimated to have low bone mass.
Twenty percent of those affected by osteoporosis are men. Seven percent of non-Hispanic white and Asian men age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis and 35 percent are estimated to have low bone mass. Four percent of non-Hispanic black men age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis and 19 percent are estimated to have low bone mass. Three percent of Hispanic men age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis and 23 percent are estimated to have low bone mass.
One in two women and one in four men over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.
Osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures annually, including:
300,000 hip fractures; and approximately
700,000 vertebral fractures,
250,000 wrist fractures; and
300,000 fractures at other sites.
The estimated national direct expenditures (hospitals and nursing homes) for osteoporotic and associated fractures was $17 billion in 2001 ($47 million each day) - and the cost is rising.
According to the American Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), physicians need to discuss the significance of fractures with their patients, and the role they play in fractures later in life.

An AAOS press release, dated October 16th 2002 stated: “People who have a fracture in the past, need to have routine tests to check bone density status as well as blood tests to check for underlying conditions. Orthopaedic surgeons should view fractures as an early warning signal to a more serious condition such as a hip or vertebral fracture when dealing with older patients.”

Orthopaedic surgeons treat nearly all fractures and thus are uniquely positioned to intervene with these high risk patients, but studies show that only 3% of patients presenting with a forearm fracture had a bone density test, and only 20% were treated for Osteoporosis. (Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Anaheim, Ca, Feb.6th,1999).