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Bone HealthWhat is osteoporosis?Osteoporosis means "porous bones." It is a condition characterized by fragile bones that break easily. A combination of heredity, diet, hormones, age and lifestyle factors all contribute to this condition. Osteoporosis attacks the bones slowly and silently until a fracture occurs, which is usually in the hip, spine, or wrist. Women are four times more likely than men to develop this condition because of the loss of estrogen at menopause, which blocks or slows down bone loss. More than half of women over the age of 65 has osteoporosis.Osteoporosis leads to 1.5 million fractures, or breaks, per year, mostly in the hip, spine and wrist, and costs $14 billion annually, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). It threatens 28 million Americans, mostly older women, but older men get it as well. One in three women past 50 will suffer a break in the spine or backbone. These numbers are likely to rise as the population ages in the next few decades.
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