Osteoporosis, the bone thinning disease, affects mainly older women. It’s not a problem to men, right?
Wrong.
Men do get it and generally it goes undiagnosed.
Older women are routinely screened for osteoporosis, a condition in which the bone becomes porous, says Amir Qaseem, a senior medical associate at the American College of Physicians. An estimated 20% of women 50 and older have osteoporosis. But little attention has been paid to the male version of the disease. So it gets missed.
Qaseem and his colleagues reviewed the evidence culled from more than 200 scientific studies. They found that osteoporosis strikes about six of 100 men by age 65, and they recommend that doctors start to screen men at that age. Risk factors for osteoporosis include low body weight, physical inactivity, a history of bone fracture not caused by substantial trauma, smoking and low levels of calcium and vitamin D.
Men who have taken medication to treat prostate cancer also are at risk, the report says. The so-called anti-androgen drugs, such as Lupron and Finasteride.
The guidelines also suggest that doctors order a bone scan for men found to be at risk. A bone scan, or a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, is a painless procedure that identifies thin bone.
Just don’t bother with the Fosamax and other junk they will shove on you. Know that boron is a potent enhancer of bone density. You need about 3 mgms of daily. Vitamin K2, 10 mgms should be added, and strontium 500 mgms or so. Take more if you have pronounced osteoporosis.
Strontium renalate at 700 mgms daily has been well-studied, is effective and quite safe. It is prescribed widely in Europe. This is not an FDA approved drug (though they have allowed Fosamax, which will poison you). Alternative forms include strontium citrate, which is also safe and effective. It’s just that studies didn’t look at this form.