Easily overlooked osteoporosis in men

  Osteoporosis is an important public health problem, a metabolic skeletal disorder that results in an increased risk of fracture due to a decrease in bone strength. Osteoporosis has long been considered a female disease because of the increased incidence of osteoporosis and even fractures in women with increasing age and the onset of menopause, but in recent years a large body of data has shown that men also experience progressive bone loss and increased risk of fracture during the aging process, and that bone loss occurs earlier in men than in women, often starting in middle age.  Studies have shown that men usually start to experience bone loss and decrease in bone density after the age of 40, and if they fail to pay attention to and prevent bone loss within the next 10 years, bone loss will be more pronounced after the age of 50, which will easily lead to the occurrence of osteoporosis in old age, coupled with smoking, alcohol consumption, hypogonadism, long-term use of certain drugs, etc., all accelerate or promote the occurrence and development of osteoporosis in men to varying degrees. and development of osteoporosis in men.  The danger of osteoporosis in men is not less than that in women. In the case of hip fractures (common osteoporotic fractures), for example, the ratio of women to men is about 7:3, but the mortality rate in men is 2 to 3 times higher than that in women.  At the same time, the pain and weakness caused by osteoporosis in men are also more obvious than in women. A statistical data in China shows that 1 in 12 men over 50 years old suffer from osteoporosis, and at least 1 in 8 men with osteoporosis will have a fracture. Therefore, like women, the prevalence of osteoporosis in men is considerable, and there is a need to identify risk factors for fracture and make strategic arrangements for its prevention and treatment to improve the quality of life of older men.