About Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue, leading to increased bone fragility and risk of fracture, particularly of the hip, spine and wrist.

Osteoporosis is sometimes confused with osteoarthritis, because the names are similar. Osteoporosis is a bone disease; osteoarthritis is a disease of the joints and surrounding tissue.

Prevalence
As many as 2 million Canadians suffer from osteoporosis.

One in four women over the age of 50 has osteoporosis. At least one in eight men over 50 also has the disease. However, the disease can strike at any age.

Cost
Financial
The cost of treating osteoporosis and the fractures it causes is estimated to be $1.3 billion each year in Canada alone. Long term, hospital and chronic care account for the majority of these costs. Given the increasing proportion of older people in the population, these costs will likely rise. 

Human
The reduced quality of life for those with osteoporosis is enormous. Osteoporosis can result in disfigurement, lowered self-esteem, reduction or loss of mobility, and decreased independence.

Hip Fractures
The statistics related to hip fractures are particularly disturbing. There are approximately 25,000 hip fractures in Canada every year. Seventy per cent of hip fractures are osteoporosis-related. Hip fractures result in death in up to 20 per cent of cases, and disability in 50 per cent of those who survive.

Cause and Risk
No single cause for osteoporosis has been identified. However, certain risk factors seem to play a role in disease development.

Major risk factors include:

• Age -- those 65 or older are at greater risk
• Family history of osteoporotic fracture (especially if one's mother had a hip fracture)
• Having a vertebral compression fracture, or a fracture with minimal trauma after age 40
• Long-term (more than three months) use of glucocorticoid therapy such as prednisone
• Medical conditions that inhibit absorption of nutrients (such as celiac or Crohn's disease)
• Primary hyperparathyroidism.
• Tendency to fall
• Osteopenia apparent on x-ray
• Hypogonadism
• Early menopause (before age 45)

Minor risk factors include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Hyperthyroidism
• Prolonged use of anticonvulsants
• Body weight less than 57 kg (125 lbs)
• Current weight more than 10 per cent below weight at age 25
• Low calcium intake
• Excess caffeine (consistently more than four cups of coffee or cola a day)
• Excess alcohol (consistently more than two drinks a day)
• Smoking
  

Osteoporosis and Gender
Women are especially at risk because of the important role that estrogen plays in keeping their bones healthy. At menopause, there is a gradual decline in ovarian function and a consequent loss of estrogen production. As estrogen levels decline, loss of bone tissue begins. Rapid bone loss at a rate of two to five percent a year can occur for the first five to 10 years after menopause.

Osteoporosis Canada recommends that all postmenopausal women and men over 50 be assessed for risk factors for osteoporosis. Although osteoporosis is more common in women, 20-30 per cent of osteoporotic fractures in Canada occur in men. As with the decline of estrogen levels in women, lower testosterone levels in men can lead to an increase in bone loss. The decline is more gradual in men and is not universal. A Canadian osteoporosis study (CaMOS) has found that 25 per cent of Canadian men have vertebral fractures, similar to rates found in women.