Bone Health Crisis: Why Osteoporosis is Skyrocketing and How You Can Prevent It

About 100 years ago, osteoporosis was unheard of. But, these days, half of all women will have it by the time they hit 60 years old. It affects men, too, with 30% of the male population getting osteoporosis at some point in life.

If you’re wondering how, in the span of a century, bone health has taken such a nose dive, it’s because of environmental factors; specifically, modern day nutrition and lifestyle. More on that in a moment.

What is osteoporosis?

Simply put, it’s a bone disease, where the body is either losing bone, making too little bone, or a combination of both. The result is bones that become fragile and more prone to fractures and breaks. In severe cases of osteoporosis, even small, normal movements can cause a fracture or break.

Is your wrist fracture trying to tell you something?

It’s known as a silent disease, because patients with osteoporosis commonly find out they have it after a minor incident, like falling from a standing position with a resulting distal radius fracture.

Because you have a wrist fracture, it’s possible that you may already have low bone density. This could also mean that you could either have osteoporosis or be at risk of getting osteoporosis.

In fact, the results from a 2019 study on 351 patients with distal radius fractures, revealed that about 60% and 30% of patients were osteoporotic and osteopenic. 

Early prevention is always best, and osteoporosis is preventable and treatable. Neglecting bone loss can lead to serious health problems down the line, so it’s important to talk to your care team to get a proper evaluation, and stop bone loss if there is any.

In the coming days, we’ll dive deeper and get more specific about your bone health and what you can do to make positive and practical changes to your life!