Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Osteoporosis not for women only
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CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta
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(CNN) -- Osteoporosis is not a condition that is found only in women. It's a concern for men, too.
CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke Wednesday with CNN's Heidi Collins about the disease that leaves bones weak and brittle.
COLLINS: It might surprise you to know that 2 million American men have [osteoporosis] and 12 million more are at risk for it. ... This is kind of a surprise.
GUPTA: It is kind of a surprise. Most people think of osteoporosis as a woman's disease. That's clearly not true. In fact, about 20 percent of osteoporosis sufferers are men.
Conventional wisdom is that men have larger and bigger bones, and women -- when they go through menopause -- actually lose the estrogen, which builds up bones, and they have more problems with osteoporosis. Women outnumber men with regard to osteoporosis, but it is clearly a problem for both. ...
... If you look at the cycle of osteoporosis, [you'll see] that bone growth is something that occurs during the early part of your age. Bones grow in length and density during your youth. And then during the teenage years, they peak in height, and the bones start to grow more dense. They don't grow longer; they just grow more dense.
Around 30 years of age now, you have peak bone density. After that, 30 years and beyond, your bones start gradually to lose more density and more strength.
It's very prevalent in both men and women. In fact, in men [older than] age 50, having osteoporosis-related fractures is more common than prostate cancer. So that also gives you a little bit of scope.
COLLINS: Yes, wow. Sanjay, [I'm] just wondering. What can people do to prevent osteoporosis, and is it different for men and women?
GUPTA: Good question. Well, first of all, with women, a lot of the osteoporosis-related stuff is due to -- this is something that's been very controversial -- but it's due to hormone replacement therapy or the lack of. That is to say when women go through menopause, they suddenly lose a lot of their estrogen. That estrogen does a lot of things in the body, including protecting bones. There's been so much data now that shows hormone replacement therapy probably has too many other risks to be used solely to prevent osteoporosis.
There are some good medications out there. There's a medication known as Phosomax, which a lot of women's doctors are prescribing for women who previously took hormone replacement therapy.
You also need to make sure to get your calcium. [It's] surprising how many people don't focus on that. Daily calcium [should be] about 1,000 milligrams a day up to age 50. A little bit more after you turn 50 -- 1,200 milligrams a day. Also vitamin D. You can get all the vitamin D you need just from spending 10 minutes a day in the sun. But if not, go get your 400 to 800 international units a day.
