Men also have twice the fatality rate of women within a year after osteoporosis risk spinal fractures
Oct 17, 2024
October 20 is the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) established 'World Osteoporosis Day'.
As we enter a super-aged society, the importance of preventing osteoporosis is being emphasized. The number of male patients with osteoporosis, which is a common disease among women after middle age, is also rapidly increasing. This is because middle-aged men also have various causes of decreased bone density as male hormones decrease, and the amount of bones decreases and the strength decreases as the body ages. In particular, in the case of men, osteoporosis occurs in older ages and often occurs secondary after other diseases, so special attention is needed.
According to the 「Osteoporosis and osteoporosis fracture fact sheet 2023" published by the National Health Insurance Service with the Korean Society of Osteoporosis and Osteoporosis, the prevalence of osteoporosis over the age of 50 was 22.4% and the prevalence of osteopenia was 47.7%, indicating that 1 in 5 adults were osteoporosis patients and 1 in 2 were osteopenia patients. 37.3% of women and 7.5% of men in their 50s and older have osteoporosis, with women having a five-fold higher prevalence than men, but osteopenia has a similar prevalence of 48.9% and 46.8% for women and men in each gender.
Oh Seung-mok, head of the orthopedic surgery department at Bupyeong Himchan Hospital, explained, "Women are more prone to osteoporosis, but men are more dangerous. After menopause, women recognize and care a lot about osteoporosis disease, but men are not. Especially in the case of male osteoporosis, the treatment rate is significantly low at around 10%, and it is often recognized only after fractures caused by osteoporosis occur."
◇ Male osteoporosis, which is easy to overlook, has a high fatality rate after fracture
Osteoporosis, an inevitable disease in old age, does not change the chemical composition of bones, but among the components of bones, there is a high possibility of fractures due to the lack of calcium that keeps bones hard. As minerals fall out of the bone, density decreases and bone strength weakens, resulting in fractures even in small shocks. In many cases, the fracture has already occurred at the time when it progresses slowly without being aware of it and feels pain.
When osteoporosis fractures occur, the fatality rate is higher in men than in women. The hip, spine, femur, wrist, and humerus usually have fractures, and among them, the mortality rate is high after hip or spinal fractures. You have to lie down for a long time until you recover, because various complications occur in the meantime. As of 2021, the fatality rate within a year after hip fracture was 24.2% for men, significantly higher than 15.7% for women. The fatality rate within a year after a vertebral fracture is also more than doubled, with 10.6% for men, compared to 4.9% for women.
Male hormones gradually decrease in middle-aged men as they age. It is important for both male and female hormones to affect bone health. It accelerates osteoporosis by causing drinking, smoking, and caffeine to fall in bone density due to decreased male hormones. Alcohol prevents the synthesis of vitamin D, which is activated in the liver, by inhibiting calcium absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and lowering liver function. Nicotine in cigarettes adversely affects calcium and vitamin D metabolism, preventing oxygen and nutrients from being supplied to bones. Caffeine interferes with the absorption of calcium from the intestine and promotes the development of osteoporosis by increasing the excretion of calcium into the urine as a diuretic action. In addition, if you suffer from multiple osteoporosis or prostate cancer, the incidence of osteoporosis increases due to other diseases.
◇Men should also be prevented and managed with regular bone density tests
Male patients are more delayed in treatment than women because osteoporosis progresses slowly than women, and there are no symptoms until fractures occur. Since osteoporosis is the main cause of aging, it is necessary for both men and women to undergo constant bone density tests after middle age. When osteoporosis occurs, it is difficult to recover to normal, so it is important to detect and prevent it as soon as possible.
Bone density is a standardized test method used in most hospitals by a dual energy X-ray absorption measurement method called DEXA. Obtain the bone density for the lumbar spine and femur, and determine how different this value is compared to the bone density of normal people of the same gender in their 20s and 30s. Diagnosis is made by displaying the T value representing the standard deviation above and below in the average bone density of young people of the same race and gender. If the T-score is within the normal range, it is diagnosed as osteopenia if it is between -1.0 and -2.5, and osteoporosis if it is below -2.5.
Through testing, it is important to improve lifestyle and treat medication if there is only osteoporosis without fractures, and to eliminate risk factors for fractures. It is helpful to suppress bone resorption through medication, reduce drinking, smoking, caffeine intake, and eat milk, cheese, shiitake mushrooms for proper calcium and vitamin D intake. Regular exercise not only strengthens bones but also reduces the likelihood of falling, such as maintaining a sense of balance, which helps prevent fractures.
Director Oh Seung-mok advised, "For the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, exercise that can stimulate bones and strengthen muscles by putting weight on it is essential". "However, it is better to avoid sit-ups, exercises that induce excessive movement of the spine, exercises that are accompanied by pain, or squatting posture even if it is not an exercise."
As we enter a super-aged society, the importance of preventing osteoporosis is being emphasized. The number of male patients with osteoporosis, which is a common disease among women after middle age, is also rapidly increasing. This is because middle-aged men also have various causes of decreased bone density as male hormones decrease, and the amount of bones decreases and the strength decreases as the body ages. In particular, in the case of men, osteoporosis occurs in older ages and often occurs secondary after other diseases, so special attention is needed.
According to the 「Osteoporosis and osteoporosis fracture fact sheet 2023" published by the National Health Insurance Service with the Korean Society of Osteoporosis and Osteoporosis, the prevalence of osteoporosis over the age of 50 was 22.4% and the prevalence of osteopenia was 47.7%, indicating that 1 in 5 adults were osteoporosis patients and 1 in 2 were osteopenia patients. 37.3% of women and 7.5% of men in their 50s and older have osteoporosis, with women having a five-fold higher prevalence than men, but osteopenia has a similar prevalence of 48.9% and 46.8% for women and men in each gender.
Oh Seung-mok, head of the orthopedic surgery department at Bupyeong Himchan Hospital, explained, "Women are more prone to osteoporosis, but men are more dangerous. After menopause, women recognize and care a lot about osteoporosis disease, but men are not. Especially in the case of male osteoporosis, the treatment rate is significantly low at around 10%, and it is often recognized only after fractures caused by osteoporosis occur."
◇ Male osteoporosis, which is easy to overlook, has a high fatality rate after fracture
Osteoporosis, an inevitable disease in old age, does not change the chemical composition of bones, but among the components of bones, there is a high possibility of fractures due to the lack of calcium that keeps bones hard. As minerals fall out of the bone, density decreases and bone strength weakens, resulting in fractures even in small shocks. In many cases, the fracture has already occurred at the time when it progresses slowly without being aware of it and feels pain.
When osteoporosis fractures occur, the fatality rate is higher in men than in women. The hip, spine, femur, wrist, and humerus usually have fractures, and among them, the mortality rate is high after hip or spinal fractures. You have to lie down for a long time until you recover, because various complications occur in the meantime. As of 2021, the fatality rate within a year after hip fracture was 24.2% for men, significantly higher than 15.7% for women. The fatality rate within a year after a vertebral fracture is also more than doubled, with 10.6% for men, compared to 4.9% for women.
Male hormones gradually decrease in middle-aged men as they age. It is important for both male and female hormones to affect bone health. It accelerates osteoporosis by causing drinking, smoking, and caffeine to fall in bone density due to decreased male hormones. Alcohol prevents the synthesis of vitamin D, which is activated in the liver, by inhibiting calcium absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and lowering liver function. Nicotine in cigarettes adversely affects calcium and vitamin D metabolism, preventing oxygen and nutrients from being supplied to bones. Caffeine interferes with the absorption of calcium from the intestine and promotes the development of osteoporosis by increasing the excretion of calcium into the urine as a diuretic action. In addition, if you suffer from multiple osteoporosis or prostate cancer, the incidence of osteoporosis increases due to other diseases.
◇Men should also be prevented and managed with regular bone density tests
Male patients are more delayed in treatment than women because osteoporosis progresses slowly than women, and there are no symptoms until fractures occur. Since osteoporosis is the main cause of aging, it is necessary for both men and women to undergo constant bone density tests after middle age. When osteoporosis occurs, it is difficult to recover to normal, so it is important to detect and prevent it as soon as possible.
Bone density is a standardized test method used in most hospitals by a dual energy X-ray absorption measurement method called DEXA. Obtain the bone density for the lumbar spine and femur, and determine how different this value is compared to the bone density of normal people of the same gender in their 20s and 30s. Diagnosis is made by displaying the T value representing the standard deviation above and below in the average bone density of young people of the same race and gender. If the T-score is within the normal range, it is diagnosed as osteopenia if it is between -1.0 and -2.5, and osteoporosis if it is below -2.5.
Through testing, it is important to improve lifestyle and treat medication if there is only osteoporosis without fractures, and to eliminate risk factors for fractures. It is helpful to suppress bone resorption through medication, reduce drinking, smoking, caffeine intake, and eat milk, cheese, shiitake mushrooms for proper calcium and vitamin D intake. Regular exercise not only strengthens bones but also reduces the likelihood of falling, such as maintaining a sense of balance, which helps prevent fractures.
Director Oh Seung-mok advised, "For the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, exercise that can stimulate bones and strengthen muscles by putting weight on it is essential". "However, it is better to avoid sit-ups, exercises that induce excessive movement of the spine, exercises that are accompanied by pain, or squatting posture even if it is not an exercise."
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