More men suffer from osteoporosis

Number of osteoporosis diseases increased in men

24/08/2011

More and more men suffer from osteoporosis. Were previously affected mainly by women of bone disease, the proportion of men in the more than eight million cases of osteoporosis in Germany has risen in recent years to about a third, said the German Association of Urology (DGU) in the run-up to their annual congress in September.

According to the experts, many men are unaware of the risk of osteoporosis and only after the appearance of clear signs, such as fractures on relatively harmless occasions, the affected seek medical attention. Accordingly late, a first diagnosis and the health impairments have often reached an advanced stage, the experts report. By early diagnosis, however, could initiate relatively effective prevention measures, so that the German Society of Urology at their annual congress wants to raise the awareness of men for the disease, said the Secretary General of the DGU, Oliver Hakenberg. According to the medical profession, bone disease is generally differentiated into primary and secondary osteoporosis, with primary osteoporosis not being due to any recognizable pathological causes, while the secondary is caused by another disease or its therapy.

Men often suffer from secondary osteoporosis
As the urologist and Andrologist of the University Hospital Münster, Sabine Kliesch, emphasized „in men secondary to secondary osteoporosis“ diagnosed. Therefore, the search for the disease-related causes is of particular importance for the male sufferers. Because only on the basis of an accurate cause diagnosis can be started with a causal therapy. As one of the common cause comes here a deficiency of the sex hormone testosterone into consideration, said the expert. Especially in patients with prostate cancer, such a hormone deficiency can be caused by appropriate therapy. In order to reduce the patient's risk of osteoporosis, which increases sharply with age, preventive measures should be taken at an early stage, according to the urologist.

In addition to osteoporosis in prostate cancer patients, bone disease is also more common in long-term corticosteroid therapy and renal impairment, Sabine Kliesch explained. As an additional risk factors, the expert called an unhealthy lifestyle with poor nutrition, alcohol, nicotine and lack of exercise. Anyone who does a lot of physical activity, nourishes their diet in a balanced manner and pays particular attention to adequate intake of calcium can, according to the expert, significantly reduce their risk of osteoporosis.

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