Osteoporosis

The Osteoporosis topic includes research on the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of osteoporosis, a disease that reduces bone mass, making bones weak, brittle, and more prone to fracture.

Women are more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, although older men are also at risk. In addition to age, risk factors include having a small, thin-boned physique, white/Asian race, family history, hormone levels (low estrogen in women, low testosterone in men), dietary calcium, vitamin D deficiencies, comorbid diseases (including endocrine and hormonal diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, certain types of cancer, HIV/AIDS, and anorexia nervosa), and lifestyle factors (low physical activity levels, smoking, chronic alcohol use). Risk factors also include certain medications such as glucocorticoids and adrenocorticotropic hormone, antiepileptic medicines, hormonal cancer treatments, proton pump inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and thiazolidinediones.