The Rhode Island Osteoporosis Program

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis means "porous bone". It is a disease that causes bones to become brittle and weak. Bones can fracture and break easily, especially in the hip, spine, and wrist.

Osteoporosis is often called the "silent disease." This is because that most often there are no symptoms until a person fractures or breaks a bone, loses height, or has pain. Osteoporosis often goes undetected until a sudden strain, bump, or fall causes a fracture or break.

It can takes years for bones to become weak and for osteoporosis to develop. In the time prior to the onset of osteoporosis, bones are slowly losing material or mass. This phase is called osteopenia, or more commonly known as low bone mass (LBM).

Why Should I Care About Osteoporosis?

80% of people with osteoporosis are women, and 20% are men.
In RI, more than one-half of the women over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis or low bone mass.
Nearly 50% of women over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.
About 24% of all hip-fracture patients over the age of 50 die within the year following the injury.
About 50% of all hip-fracture patients become disabled for the remainder of their lives, losing their prior level of independence.
A women's risk of a hip fracture is equal to her risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer combined.
Osteoporosis can result in:

Forced retirement

Permanent disfigurement

Depression

Social isolation

Decreased well-being

Men get osteoporosis too.
Osteoporosis can be prevented.
Osteoporosis can be treated.

Source: National Osteoporosis Foundation

Highlights

Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Surgeon General's Report
By 2020, One In Two Americans Over Age 50 Will Be At Risk For Fractures From Osteoporosis Or Low Bone Mass

Osteoporosis Program: Priorities Identified to Address Issues Related to the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Osteoporosis May 2003

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