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Important Osteoporosis Facts
- More than 25 million Americans have osteoporosis.
- Osteoporosis causes over 1.5 million fractures annually, including more than 700,000 vertebral fractures, 250 hip fractures and 240,000 wrist fractures.
- The direct medical costs of osteoporosis in the U.S. are estimated at $20 billion annually.
- An estimated 54% of women over the age of 50 have, or will have, osteoporosis and are at risk of an osteoporosis-related fracture.
- 40% of 50-year-old women will suffer an osteoporotic fracture in their remaining years.
- A woman's risk of experiencing hip fracture is equal to her combined risk of developing breast, uterine and ovarian cancer.
- Up to 24% of women who suffer hip fracture die within one year of the event.
- Nearly 65,000 American women die from hip fracture annually.
- Osteoporosis occurs significantly more frequently in women.
- The effects of spinal osteoporosis can include height loss, kyphosis or "dowager's hump," back pain, rib pain, abdominal pain and respiratory problems.
- Women who are postmenopausal are at risk for osteoporosis. The presence of any one of these risk factors can add to a person's risk:
- Age (bone loss and fracture risk increase with age)
- Caucasian/Asian race
- Thin or small build
- Previous fracture
- Family history of osteoporosis
- Early menopause (before age 45)
- Smoking
- Alcohol abuse
- Inactive lifestyle
- Inadequate calcium intake
- Certain medications (including steriods and thyroid hormone)
- A woman can lose up to one third of her lifetime bone mass during the first five years after menopause.
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