Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become brittle and break results in the weakening of a person’s skeleton. Can men get osteoporosis as a disease that largely, or only, affects women because a woman’s menopause can induce loss of bone density due to the hormonal changes they experience. However men are also subject to the disease and those with certain lifestyles can be at risk of losing their mobility and independence due to its effects. The answer to the question ‘Can men get osteoporosis?’ is a definitive ‘Yes’ according to medical professionals.

It is often referred to as a ‘silent disease’ because there are no obvious symptoms during its progress until bones become brittle and fracture. The disease does develop less often in men due to their physical characteristics (they typically have a larger skeleton than women) and when it does, bone loss starts later in life and progresses more slowly. It is, however, a significant problem for men and estimates show that incidences of the disease will continue to grow in the number of men aged over 70 as men in the general population continue to experience longer life expectancy.

Bone density changes during a person’s life as old bone is replaced by new growth. This is more pronounced in a person’s early years when the skeleton grows in size. After a person has passed 30 years of age, however, bone mass tends to peak and the amount of new bone in the skeleton begins to decline as the dissipation of old bone is greater than new bone being produced.

While men in their fifties do not begin to experience the rapid bone loss that women do after their menopause, by the time they pass 65 years of age they begin to lose bone mass at the same rate seen in women. At this age the ability of the body to absorb calcium, an essential nutrient required for bone health, is reduced and excessive loss of bone structure causes fragility and the possibility of breaks and fractures.

These fractures typically occur in the spine, hip and wrist parts of the body and can be permanently disabling once they have occurred. Hip fractures are particularly debilitating because they reduce a person’s mobility and make them almost entirely dependent on others to perform the normal daily functions of life. In many cases when men suffer from hip fractures they are likely to die from the complications so osteoporosis in men is a serious issue and requires constant monitoring in later years.