Doctors warn men: do not underestimate the risk of osteoporosis



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Degradative osteoporosis as a disease in women can be fatal for many men. On World Osteoporosis Day, October 20, experts urge older men and their doctors to take seriously a possible bone reduction. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), the risk of osteoporosis in men is greater than that associated with prostate cancer. One-third of hip fractures occur in humans. The assassinated US President, John F. Kennedy, and former Tatort Commissioner, Hansjörg Felmy, who died in 2007, are the main victims of osteoporosis.

"In 2010, there were 725,000 osteoporotic fractures in Germany, including more than 95,000 hip fractures in women and 34,000 hip fractures in men," said Andreas Kurth, orthopedic surgeon and trauma surgeon, President of the Federation of Osteology (Bone Science). According to a study by IOF, one million men and four million women were affected by osteoporosis in Germany that year. "The men just hit it a bit later, 70-year-old men have about the same risk of osteoporosis as women in their 60s," says Kurth.

A silent illness is often not treated

"Osteoporosis only hurts when you break something," says Christian Hinz, chief physician at the Fürstenhof Clinic in Bad Pyrmont, specializing in osteoporosis. Many people thought the break was due to the fall. "But at a minimum drop height, the bones do not usually break." For example, if you slip on a chair, fall to the ground and break a vertebra, osteoporosis can be the cause of the fracture. According to IOF estimates, one in five men out of five worldwide breaks a bone of osteoporosis. "For most of them, this silent disease is neither recognized nor treated, even after a fracture," writes the foundation.

Risk factors in men include, for example, some treatments for rheumatism, prostate cancer or chronic intestinal diseases. Antihormonal therapies in particular inhibit the production of testosterone, which weakens the bones.

Exercise and healthy food prevent

Hinz also points out the higher risks associated with lifestyle changes: "In fact, nature offers what we need in all seasons: for example, cabbage in autumn and fruits rich in trace elements, in vitamins and calcium, and in winter fats and fish containing vitamin D. But you do not eat that anymore.Therefore, the nutritional probability of developing deficiency and osteoporosis is greater . "

Doctors recommend that men and women stop eating healthy and exercising. "In severe cases, there are also medications that can prevent the majority of fractures," says Kurth. However, only 20% of patients who would need medication would actually be treated, says Hinz. Physicians also assume responsibility for home doctors and accidents as well as urologists. In men, they would very rarely clarify the presence of osteoporosis. Men should clarify their risk of osteoporosis from age 60 or older, says Hinz. This comes with a questionnaire on diseases, medications, frequency of falls, genetic predispositions and lifestyle.

From RND / dpa

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