Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is known as the silent thief because it drains away bone slowly over many years. This happens at such a gradual rate that often times the patient or their doctor are aware the bones are weakening, that is unfortunately until one of the bones snap. Osteoporosis, which means "porous bones," is a condition of excessive skeletal fragility resulting in bones that break easily. "Osteoporosis leads to 1.5 million fractures, or breaks, per year, mostly in …

…postmenopausal women have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. It is estimated that osteoporosis is a major health threat to 28 million Americans and 80% of these are women. One out of every two women and one in eight men over 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime. Over 2 million men in America suffer from osteoporosis, and millions more are at risk. Each year, 80,000 men suffer a hip fracture and one-third of these men die within a year.