You have probably heard of osteoporosis. If this age-related bone disease mainly affects women, do you know that men are also affected? What is osteoporosis? When does it manifest in humans? How to prevent and treat it? Focus on this pathology which is also associated with men.
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that weakens the skeleton. It is characterized by both an alteration in the architecture of the bone and a decrease in its density . It usually occurs in people over 50 years old. It is said to be silent, as it is asymptomatic in its early stages. It is often during a fracture linked for example to a fall, but also to seemingly harmless incidents that many then discover the disease from which they are suffering.
Yet the fracture is the result of a process that has taken hold over the years, but without any apparent signs. A bone is far from being inert:it is a living tissue that is constantly renewing itself. We are talking about bone remodeling. With age, the balance between resorption and bone formation breaks down, the bone then loses density and quality and becomes porous. Osteoporosis means porous bones. It is this loss of bone capital which weakens the bone and makes it vulnerable to even a very slight shock.
There are two types of osteoporosis:
The areas of the skeleton most affected are, in order, the wrist, then the vertebrae and finally, the neck of the femur.
30 to 40% of women are affected by the disease from menopause, almost one in three. In men, the disease would reach about 15% of them.
With the aging of the population, there are nearly 400,000 fractures related to osteoporosis, including 74,000 of the hip, 56,000 of the vertebrae, 56,000 of the wrists and 191,000 of other bones.
If the disease mainly affects women, it does not spare the male sex, older men, but also younger subjects. Did you know that one in five men has a fracture related to osteoporosis?
If it is not aging, one can legitimately wonder what can be the causes of osteoporosis in a young man. Two main factors can be identified:
With a large initial bone mass, and protection due to the production of sex hormones, the man is less prone to a sudden fragility of his bone capital, his 50 or 55 years old. Demineralization is however often already started, but it is slower. Here we are talking about a secondary osteoporosis , that is, related to a disease or treatment.
If menopause is very often a harbinger of osteoporosis in women, in men, it is not usual to see such a phenomenon of a sudden drop in hormones. However, two cases must be distinguished:
Many pathologies and their treatments also lead to the appearance of osteoporosis. This is the case with rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease (a hepatodigestive disease) which requires prolonged use of corticosteroids.
Excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco is finally an aggravating factor of the disease in humans.
If the causes of the occurrence of the disease differ from women, its prevention and treatment are identical for both sexes.
The main thing is to keep the bones in good shape for as long as possible. To do this, you must scrupulously follow 3 rules:
Bone densitometry reveals bone mineral density and fixes fracture risk. Based on the results of this examination, your doctor may or may not prescribe treatment. This is most often:
At the same time, stopping smoking and alcohol should be considered without delay and rehabilitation sessions are recommended.
Men have a more advantageous bone mass and morphology than women. However, osteoporosis does not spare them. More than half the time, there is no justification for the onset of the disease in male subjects, which sometimes makes its detection difficult. Do not hesitate to discuss the subject with your doctor or to consult our teleconsultation service.
Source:
https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/osteoporosis/comprendre-osteoporose
https://www.vidal.fr/malades/apparatus-locomotor/osteoporosis.html
https://www.inserm.fr/dossier/osteoporosis/
https://www.sante-sur-le-net.com/ Maladies/rheumatologie/osteoporosis/
https://www.santemagazine.fr/sante/fiche- Maladie/osteoporosis-177467
https://www.santemagazine.fr/sante/fiche- Maladie/osteoporosis-177467
https://www.toutsurosteoporose.fr/
