Osteoporosis in Male and Female
Osteoporosis in male has a different origin of the female. Researchers at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona and Genetics Research Group Osteoporosis Center Research Institute (IMIM) have found that osteoporosis in men has a different cause than the female, publishes the journal International Tissue calcification. “
“Until now it was supposed to be produced by the same mechanism in women, but we have seen that it is not,” explained the consultant rheumatologist Bone Metabolism Section of Rheumatology Service, Hospital del Mar and study coordinator, Josep Blanch.
Bone mineral density in men is due to a defect in bone formation in women and increased destruction of bone tissue, he added. Osteoporosis is a bone disease characterized by loss of bone mineral density and is diagnosed with a bone densitometry. The loss of bone mineral density increases susceptibility to fractures of bones, so much so that, in Spain, annually produce about 45,000 hip fractures as a direct result of osteoporosis.
Between 15 percent and 20 percent of people who suffer a hip fracture suffer from serious problems in the course of a year due to sleep, pulmonary thrombosis and respiratory distress, among other factors, which derive from the fact being bedridden.
It is estimated that of all hip fractures occur each year in Spain, one third of the men suffer, because, although osteoporosis is a disease common among post-menopausal women, it also affects men. In fact, among the male population is more frequent than commonly thought.
So far, it was believed that osteoporosis was mainly male secondary, i.e. caused by the use of certain drugs, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), certain liver diseases, or also a consequence of certain toxic habits, and consumption alcohol, etc…
However, there are times that osteoporosis is not known or apparent cause, in this case is called primary or idiopathic and represents 50 percent of this disorder in men. For this reason, researchers at the Hospital del Mar have wanted a deeper understanding of the causes of this disease in the male population.
In a previous study, this same group compared the measurements of cortical bone morphology in men with idiopathic osteoporosis with measures taken in subjects in a control group. The researchers found a smaller bone formation and found significant differences in bone destruction or resorption between groups.