PITTSBURGH, June 2 (UPI) -- Osteoporosis is prevalent in aging men, yet the disease often goes undiagnosed until a fracture occurs, a U.S. study finds.
An extensive review by Dr. Vonda J. Wright of the University of Pittsburgh found 30 percent of hip fractures occur in men, and those men have twice the mortality rate of women during the initial hospitalization and first post-fracture year. One-third of men who suffer a hip fracture lose independence and must move into a nursing facility or a relative's home.
"But because many of us don't realize how common osteoporosis can be in men, we don't always look for it when a male patient has suffered a fracture," said Wright. "The fracture gets treated but the disease does not, so the patient continues to be at risk."
Osteoporosis is often considered a woman's disease because it is linked to a loss of bio-available estrogen that occurs during aging.
Men who are most likely to have osteoporosis are those who are over the age of 75, have a low body-mass index, have lost more than 5 percent of their body weight in the previous four years, currently smoke and are physically inactive, according to a paper published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
