Bone loss common in men as well as women

Studies indicate that as men age, they are likely to experience health risks associated with osteoporosis. However, the problem is often overlooked and undertreated.

By Kathleen F. Phalen, AMNews correspondent. Nov. 18, 2002.

Gary M. Kiebzak, PhD, already knew that women with osteoporosis were undertreated. And he suspected the same for men.

"We were quite certain that men were not adequately treated, and we wanted to document this," says Dr. Kiebzak, associate professor of orthopedics at Baylor College of Medicine and chief research scientist at the Center for Orthopedic Research and Education at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston.

So, along with fellow researchers, he evaluated the outcome and treatment status of 363 elderly low-impact hip fracture patients admitted to St. Luke's between 1996 and 2000.

The study's findings, published in the Oct. 28 Archives of Internal Medicine, were worse than expected, says Dr. Kiebzak. "It was pretty dramatic; 4.5% of men and 27% of women left the hospital with some type of osteoporosis treatment."

This finding seems to support the belief that there is an underawareness that osteoporosis is common across the board as individuals age -- not simply relegated to elderly and postmenopausal women with decreasing estrogen levels.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, aging men are also at risk. At 60, the average white male has a 25% chance of sustaining an osteoporotic fracture in his remaining lifetime, says Eric Orwoll, MD, professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. "It is definitely common in men. Awareness is a primary care issue."

Still, for men, osteoporosis is rarely diagnosed in time to implement effective treatment. It just does not get mentioned, says Dr. Kiebzak. "Men account for 30% of hip fractures, but unless a bone mineral density test is done, [osteoporosis] doesn't pop up on the physician's radar," he says. "By the time someone is 80 and has a hip fracture, they could have had low bone density for 30 or more years." [...]