Who Gets Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Who gets osteoporosis?
Of course, not everyone develops osteoporosis. We've all known people who've made it into their 80s or 90s without fractures or a noticeable loss of height — two telltale symptoms of the condition.
Certain characteristics make some people more likely to develop the disease. To begin with, being female is a major risk factor: About 80% of the 10 million Americans with osteoporosis are women. Beyond that, some risk factors are common to both men and women, while others vary by sex.
Figure 4: A look at osteoporotic bone
  The photograph at left shows a microscopic view of bone from a 75-year-old woman who does not suffer from osteoporosis. You'll notice that her bone is denser than the bone shown at right, which is from a 47-year-old woman with osteoporosis who has had several spinal fractures. |
| Last updated: | January 23, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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