Worldwide, 1 in 3 women over age 50 will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation. But 1 in 5 men over age 50 also will have the same issue.
Osteoporosis is thinning of your bones to the point where they can break.
“Bone loss really starts to occur in a big way at about age 55,” says Dr. Bart Clarke, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist.
Clarke is medical editor of “Mayo Clinic Guide to Preventing and Treating Osteoporosis.” He says women are most at risk, especially those past menopause, when bone loss is accelerated because of a lack of estrogen. But women aren’t the only people affected.
“About 20 percent of the patients in the country who have osteoporosis are men,” says Clarke.