“I’M TOO OLD TO TAKE MEDICINE FOR OSTEOPOROSIS”

Actually, that’s almost certainly not true! Osteoporosis is primarily a disease of older people, so older people are the ones who should be taking treatment. A 57 year old woman almost never has osteoporosis, while an 87 year old is quite likely to (about 5% chance for the 57 year old and a 25%or greater chance for the 87 year old).

The problem is that when older people get a fracture, they can get in a lot of trouble from it. They often have to go to the hospital, which can be frightening and even dangerous for them (they can get infections there, or can get delirious and increase their fall risk, or if they have surgery, that can be dangerous for them). Then they may need to go to a nursing home till they recover their function. Maybe they can’t walk, or can’t use their arm to cook. But being in a nursing home is disorienting and upsetting, and they may be afraid they’ll never get back to independence.

And the worst thing is, many older people who get a fracture never do get back to the level of function or independence they had before. This is true of 50% of older women who get a spinal compression fracture (“squash” fracture of one of the vertebrae).

Fractures can even affect mortality: some 20% of older women who get hip fractures will die of some related cause within a year. That’s a pretty bad disease!

But the medications that are available for osteoporosis are quite effective: they vary from one to another, and according to whether you’re looking at spinal fractures or hip fractures, but they can reduce fractures up to 50%. This is huge!!!

And don’t let the lay press, or your “knowledgeable” friends and neighbors dissuade you. The “terrible side effects” (jaw problems and atypical femur fractures) that people talk about are quite rare—less than 0.1%.

So, please: if you are a woman of 60 or over, or a man of 70 or over, please get checked for osteoporosis, and treat it if you have it!