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 Men also lose bone as they age, but they do not experience rapid bone loss with menopause, as women do and their bone mass generally remains adequate until much later in life. As women tend to live longer than men, so the effects of osteoporosis have more opportunity to show up later in life. Reduced calcium intake and low levels of vitamin D can increase agerelated bone loss.

Although osteoporotic fractures are less common in men than in women, when they occur, these fractures are associated with higher disability and death than in women.

What's my Risk of Osteoporosis?

We can predict our risk of getting osteoporosis before the disease occurs. Certain people are more likely to develop osteoporosis than others and there are several risk factors for the disease. Some of these risk factors are things you can change and others can't be changed.

Risk factors you may be able to change:

An inactive lifestyle or low physical activity levels (over many years)
Cigarette smoking
Excessive alcohol intake
Having a low body weight
A diet low in calcium
Vitamin D deficiency
Frequent falls

Risk factors you can't change:

Being female
Being Caucasian or Asian
Having a small body build
Having delayed puberty or early menopause
A previous osteoporotic fracture
Having a direct relative who has had an osteoporotic fracture
Being over 60 years of age
Having rheumatoid arthritis, chronic liver disease or kidney failure
Having malabsorption syndromes (including chronic liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease)
Having a history of over-active thyroid or parathyroid glands, or past treatment with thyroid hormones
Being a male with low testosterone levels
Having had long-term drug treatment with corticosteroids (eg asthma and rheumatoid arthritis).

Could I Have Osteoporosis?

Do you think you have shrunk in height?
Are you thin with a small frame?
Do you have a family history of osteoporosis?
Have you had sudden, severe unexplained back pain?
Have you had a recent bone fracture (and are over 60 years)?
Have you developed a "Dowager's Hump"?
Could you be vitamin D deficient because you do not get much sun exposure?
Does your diet lack calcium?
Do you have a very sedentary lifestyle $shy; sitting all day and not doing much physical activity?

If you answer YES to any of these questions you should discuss the possibility of having osteoporosis with your GP.


Sourced, with permission, from the Osteoporosis Australia website” and it must only be used in terms of general information provided.

For more information contact a state osteoporosis office on the national toll free number 1800 242 141