Risk of osteoporosis in men
Women have more tendency to get osteoporosis than men, as most people know. But it doesn’t mean that the men’s osteoporosis doesn’t exist. According to “Percentage of Adults Aged 65 and Over With Osteoporosis or Low Bone Mass at the Femur Neck or Lumbar Spine: United States, 2005-2010“, 16.2 % of American adults aged 65 and over had osteoporosis at the lumbar spine or femur neck (Table 1, Figure 1). While women had it by 24.8%, men also did by 5.6%.
Men also get osteoporosis as their age gets higher.
Men have bigger and thicker skeleton than women and have more bone mass when they are young. They don’t experience a steep decline in their hormones like women’s menopause. These factors moderate the men’s osteoporosis risk. But, such a chance gets higher also on men as they age higher.
Osteoporosis in men happens after their age of 60, generally, and its ratio becomes about half of women. The bone mass of men aged around 80 is only about 70% of their youth and many of them can get osteoporosis.
Men also have factors to facilitate osteoporosis risk besides the factors to moderate it as the above. They have more tendency to have diabetes or hypertension. More men smoke and drink than women. These are related to the onset of osteoporosis.
Men’s osteoporosis can bring them more lifetime health risks.
Both men and women become easy to fall due to the waned muscle and sense of balance. Weakened bone by osteoporosis is easy to be broken even by a little falling. Men have bigger bodies, and their moves are strong; they tend to hit their bodies harder on the ground or floor and it may break their bones or cause a head injury. So, we can tell you that the osteoporosis in men has higher risk of such injury.
Thus men tend to shut themselves in their house after such injuries worry the same trouble from happening again. As a result, they will not move their bodies enough, and their muscle strength and muscle strength will decline. Eventually, it leads to the deterioration of their body functions and mental depression. In the worst case, they may fall into the condition to need care.
Which bones are broken? What happens as a result?
The bone parts often to be broken for older men are the same as women, vertebral body (backbones), proximal portions of femur, base of upper arms, and wrists.
Among these parts, the bone-breaking at the base of the femur often brings down the patients into the condition needing care, and you will need to be very careful.
The spinal cords pass through your backbones. If the backbones are broken, it can cause health disorders beyond the broken bones. The broken part may press the nerve to cause disturbance of gait or urination disorder.
The possibility of bone-breaking increases after the age of 70, even in men, and it can lead to further severe health problems. Thus men should take care of bone health as well as women.