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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Osteoporosis is not just a disease women get. Over the next 15 years, osteoporosis is expected to increase in men by roughly 50 percent and hip fractures are expected to double by 2040. The growing health concern has prompted the American College of Physicians (ACP) to release new guidelines on osteoporosis screenings of men.
Currently, seven percent of white men, five percent of black men and three percent of Hispanic men in the United States are estimated to suffer from osteoporosis; but experts say awareness of the condition in men is lacking.
It is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated in men, Amir Qaseem, M.D., Ph.D., a senior medical associate at the American College of Physicians (ACP) in Philadelphia was quoted as saying. Not enough older men are being screened. Older men, especially those over the age of 65, need to be assessed regularly for risk factors for osteoporosis.
The ACPs newly-released guidelines request physicians periodically evaluate their older male patients for osteoporosis risk factors like low body weight, previous fractures not caused by trauma, continuous use of certain drugs, physical inactivity and low-calcium diets. The ACP recommends a bone mineral density test be performed on men who have a higher risk, using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan (DEXA).
Studies show osteoporotic fractures in men result in substantial disease, death and health costs. After hip fracture, the one-year mortality rate in men is twice that in women.
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SOURCE: The Annals of Internal Medicine, published online May 6, 2008
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