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The causes of osteoporosis -- a progressive bone disease that slowly gets worse over time, causing the bones to become weak and brittle -- include genetic factors, environmental factors and lifestyle factors such as using tobacco and lack of weight-bearing exercise. Although menopause accelerates bone mass loss and the disease is most commonly associated with women, men can also develop osteoporosis. However, white and Asian women are more likely to develop it. Other risk factors include being underweight, drinking large amounts of alcohol and not consuming enough calcium.
There is a one-in-two chance that a woman will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in her lifetime, and there is a one-in-four chance that a man will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in his lifetime. Hip fractures are the most serious. Twenty-five percent of those over 50 who experience a hip fracture die in the first year following the incident, and 20 percent lose their independence at home and have to move into an assisted living facility. Vertebral (spinal) fractures are twice as common as hip fractures and can be quite debilitating because they are so painful.
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