Osteoporosis: Why It Affects More Women Than Men



While osteoporosis can affect both men and women, the condition is more common in women due to their lower bone densities and higher propensity for bone loss as they continue to age. Osteoporosis affects about 200 million women around the world, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, which makes osteoporosi a greater burden for women of all ages.





Osteoporosis is a bone condition that causes bones to thin and weaken over time, making them easier to break. It affects both men and women. It may not be reasonable, yet it's actual: If you're a woman, you're naturally at more serious hazard for osteoporosis than men.



Being female puts you at risk of developing osteoporosis and broken bones. Here are some facts: Approximately one in two women over age 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. A woman’s risk of breaking a hip is equal to her combined risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer.

Of the estimated 10 million Americans with osteoporosis, about eight million or 80% are women.





What are healthy bones?

Bone is constantly being built, torn down and rebuilt in the body. As the body digests nutrients like calcium, vitamin D and potassium, it creates bone mass. Exercises like jogging or walking also help to strengthen bones.

Strengthening of bones typically continues until people are in their mid-30s. Then bones begin to lose their density. The hard minerals in bone are replaced by empty honey-comb like tissue. Lighter and more fragile, they break more easily when you fall or have an accident.



The body usually breaks down bone and builds new tissue to replace it. This process of bone turnover is normal and healthy, however as we age we don’t form as much new bone, meaning that bone mass gradually starts to decrease over time. This process causes bones to become progressively more porous and at risk of fracture. Study shows that men tend to have denser, stronger bones. So, although bone loss still occurs in men from middle age, it is less likely to lead to significant osteoporosis.



Why the gender gap? Women start with lower bone density than man peers and woman lose bone mass more quickly as they age, which leads to osteoporosis in some women. Between the ages of 20 and 80, the average white woman loses one-third of her hip bone density, compared to a bone density loss of only one-fourth in men.

When Does Osteoporosis Usually Happen in Women? For most women, the total amount of bone peaks somewhere between ages 20 and 35. It may peak even sooner for some women, depending on their risk factors for osteoporosis. When the total amount of bone peaks, the tide turns. At some point, usually around age 35, women start to lose bone.

While some bone is lost each year, the rate of bone loss increases dramatically in the five to 10 years after menopause. Then, for several years, the breakdown of bone occurs at a much greater pace than the building of new bone. This is the process that eventually causes osteoporosis. During this time, even though your bones may still be strong enough to prevent unusual fractures and you have no signs to alert you to the disease, bone loss may become detectable with a bone density test.

There are reasons why women are more to get osteoporosis than men:

Women tend to have thinner, smaller bones than men.

Estrogen, a hormone in women that protects bones, decreases sharply when women reach menopause, which can cause bone loss. This is why the chance of developing osteoporosis increases as women reach menopause.



Osteoporosis and Estrogen

Estrogen is a hormone that directs a woman's regenerative cycle. In the meantime, it assumes a job in keeping bones solid and sound, in the two people. While premenopausal, woman have more estrogen than men, they will encounter sensational drops in estrogen generation because of menopause, and are bound to encounter bone misfortune and osteoporosis around then.



Women are at increased osteoporosis risk related to estrogen levels if they:

Are experiencing menopause, with those experiencing menopause at an early age having a considerably higher hazard

Have had their ovaries evacuated (at any age)

Experience unpredictable or inconsistent periods, or started having their periods at a later than typical age

Woman lose bone mass substantially more rapidly in the years following menopause than they do at some other time in their lives.



Conversely, information proposes that women who have more estrogen than their friends, for example, women who started menstrual cycles sooner than ordinary or who have utilized estrogen containing contraceptives, are probably going to have higher bone thickness.



In women, the reproductive hormone estrogen is partly responsible for regulating and maintaining healthy bones. As menopause approaches, a woman’s risk for osteoporosis will increase as estrogen hormone levels start to fluctuate, or deplete. Women are at higher risk for osteoporosis if they frequently experience menstrual irregularity, have their ovaries removed, or are currently going through menopause. Women who take birth control pills or other forms of synthetic estrogen are also at heightened risk for osteoporosis compared to their peers.



Osteoporosis and menopause

Postmenopausal women are at the greatest risk of suffering from osteoporosis and fractures due to rapid bone loss occurring with the onset of menopause. Bone mass peaks in the mid-twenties and remains more or less stable until the beginning of menopause, occurring in women between the ages 50 and 53 years in North America and Europe, and as early as age 42 in Asia and Latin America.



African-American Women

5 percent of African American women older than 50 are estimated to have osteoporosis.

Another 35 percent are estimated to have low bone mass, which means their bones are getting weaker but they don’t yet have osteoporosis.

Even among African American women who do have risk factors for osteoporosis, few are screened for the disease.

About 70 percent of African Americans are lactose intolerant, which can make it difficult to get enough calcium.

Lots of African American women don’t get enough vitamin D, which can make it hard for the body to absorb calcium.



Latina Women

10 % of Latinas women have osteoporosis.

Half of all Latinas woman older than 50 have low bone mass, which means their bones are getting weaker but they don’t yet have osteoporosis.

Lots of Latinas are lactose intolerant, it is difficult for them to get enough calcium.



Asian-American Women

About 20% of Asian American women age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis.

More than 50% of all Asian American women age 50 and older are estimated to have low bone density, which means their bones are getting weaker but they don’t yet have osteoporosis.

About 90 percent of Asian American adults are lactose intolerant, which can make it difficult to get enough calcium.



Caucasian Women

20% of Caucasian women age 50 and older are estimated to have osteoporosis.

More than half of all Caucasian women age 50 and older are estimated to have low bone mass, which means their bones are getting weaker but they don’t yet have osteoporosis.

Between the ages of 20 and 80, Caucasian women lose one-third of the bone mineral density in their hip.

About 15% of Caucasians are lactose intolerant, which can make it difficult to get enough calcium.



Osteoporosis can go undetected for years. After prevention, the next best thing is early diagnosis, which can help people with osteoporosis limit bone loss by starting treatment as soon as possible. But it requires vigilance, because many people with the disease don’t experience symptoms in its early stages. For that reason, many experts recommend regular bone density scans for women older than 65, whose lighter, thinner bones and decreased estrogen levels make them more likely to develop the disease. People at high risk should also get regular scans. You shouldn't wait until you get a fracture, as you are at significant risk of a second fracture after your first vertebral fracture.





Myth: If you have osteoporosis, your bones will ache.

Fact: Osteoporosis is often referred to as a silent disease because it can damage your bones for years before any symptoms appear. For many people, a broken bone is the first sign of the disease. However, after the disease progresses, symptoms such as pain and a hunched posture may appear.





Summary

Regardless of whether you’re a man or woman, it’s important that you get screened for osteoporosis as early as the age of 50. Early detection of osteoporosis will allow you to devise a treatment plan with your health care provider so you can strengthen your bones, and reduce the risk for falls and fractures.