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Osteoporosis Osteoporosis Basics

Are You at Risk for Osteoporosis?

Summary & Participants

Certain people are at a higher risk for osteoporosis. Knowing and understanding your risk is an important first step in prevention. Join us as we discuss osteoporosis risk factors, and what can be done to prevent its onset.

Medically Reviewed On: June 20, 2008

Webcast Transcript

LISA CLARK: Welcome to our webcast. I'm Lisa Clark. Theoretically, osteoporosis can strike just about anyone who has bones in their body, but certain people have a higher risk, and understanding your risk is an important first step towards preventing the disease.

Joining me to talk about who should be most concerned is Dr. Martin Nydick, an endocrinologist at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell Campus in New York City. Dr. Nydick, thanks for joining us here today.

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Thank you for asking me.

LISA CLARK: How common is osteoporosis in the U.S.?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: It's extremely common. It's almost as common as hypertension. There are estimated to be 10 million people, approximately, with osteoporosis, and another, perhaps, 15 to 20 million who are at risk for osteoporosis.

LISA CLARK: One of the statistics I've read is that one in two women and one in eight men over the age of 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their life. That's a very high statistic.

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Yes, it is, and it's frightening.

LISA CLARK: Are the risks different for different segments of the population?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Women are more at risk than men. They tend to get osteoporosis and the fractures about 10 years earlier than men do, and there are also other risk factors that tend to cause to have people to have osteoporotic fractures -- very light body weight, alcohol consumption and the use of tobacco, are risk factors, and certain ethnic groups -- people who are of Northern European, or pale populations, and Oriental populations tend to have a higher risk of osteoporosis.

LISA CLARK: And for women the risk is definitely enhanced when they reach menopause, the loss of estrogen in the body is a key component?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Yes. There is an accelerated loss of bone at that point in their lives.

LISA CLARK: How early can doctors predict whether someone might have a risk with osteoporosis?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Well, it could even be a genetic problem, and if we were doing bone density studies on children, we might even be able to predict it at that point in their lives. But from a practical standpoint, we usually start looking for osteoporosis around menopause in women and later in men, unless we know that they have specific risk factors such as some of the ones I mentioned, or if they're taking certain medications which can cause accelerated bone loss, such as corticosteroids, and thyroid medications at too high a dose, and antiepileptic drugs.

LISA CLARK: People who have had issues with alcohol or smoking or some of the other risk factors, what can they do from their end to start maintaining healthy bone in their bodies?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Aside from discontinuing the bad habit, everyone should be taking adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D, and exercising.

LISA CLARK: And weight-bearing exercise, I've always heard, is the important type of exercise to do?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Right. By "weight-bearing exercise," we don't mean weights necessarily, although that isn't bad. But we mean exercising on the legs, impacting the legs, the hips and the back during your exercise, and simple things such as walking vigorously or low impact aerobics, or treadmill, that sort of exercise is what we have in mind.

LISA CLARK: If someone is concerned, particularly women, concerned about developing osteoporosis, what is your advice? What should they do first?

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: They should involve themselves in these good things for their bones that I just mentioned, and they should find out whether they have thin bones. That can be done very simply by doing a bone density study. And they should check with their doctor.

LISA CLARK: Dr. Nydick, thank you so much for joining us on this webcast. We appreciate your time.

MARTIN NYDICK, MD: Thank you for asking me.

LISA CLARK: And our thanks to you for joining us. I'm Lisa Clark.