It's Not Just For Women

If you thought osteoporosis is a disease that only occurs in women, better think again. Because new guidelines set in Washington has just came out, advising men, especially those aged over 70 years to get a routine check-up for bone-thinning osteoporosis. This is in line with the effort to better target who really needs treatment and who an safely skip it, even before someone's bones become too thin to be officially labeled an osteoporosis patient.

But don;t get it wrong, because post-menopausal women are still at greatest risk of osteoporosis, when bone-strengthening estrogen plummets. This is just a warning to the male population after finding out with a study conducted by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reveal that there are more and more men suffering from hip fractures due to weakening bone structure.

One more fact is that more than half of fractures due to bone loss occur on people whose bones are thinning but aren't quite thin to be considered osteoporosis, a condition called osteopenia. The rising cases of osteopenia is a clear indication that men, just like women, just start keeping tabs on the condition of their bones. In the United States alone, 10 million people have osteoporosis and 34 million are suffering from osteopenia.

Aside from having early check-up to find out if they are already suffering from osteoporosis and osteopenia, professionals also advised everyone, especially the older people to start consuming 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day and 800 to 1,000 international units of Vitamin D. They should also do regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises.