Medical Update*

But what he didn't know, what nobody told him, was that the radiation treatments had also left his bones porous and seriously weakened. "Nobody told me about osteoporosis," he says.

Osteoporosis is commonly thought of as an older woman's health problem.

True, osteoporosis strikes women more often than men - one woman in three over age 50 will eventually suffer a fracture caused by the disease, whereas the numbers for men are one in five. Women are smaller than men, on average, and their smaller bones are less able to absorb loss. Also, women live longer, which means more bone loss over time.

But the condition can have more serious consequences for men. Osteoporosis is more likely to go unrecognized and undiagnosed in males, and fewer treatments have been approved for male bone loss. And the hip fractures associated with osteoporosis more often result in severe disability and even death for men.

Albrecht thought his bones were sound until he went to a neighborhood health fair a few years ago. "Some teenage boys were running a foot-density machine," he says. "It looks like a giant house slipper. You put your foot in, pump it up - it's very soft - and a little tape comes out with the reading." Out of curiosity he had his foot measured.

"They said I might have a bone-density problem. I said, `Oh, I exercise all the time.'"

A year later at another health fair he encountered another such machine and had his bone density measured, with the same result. So he decided to see a doctor.

Those health-fair foot machines are not the best way to diagnose osteoporosis, says Dr. Khashayar Sakhaee. He's a professor of internal medicine and chief of the division of mineral metabolism at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He recommends a full bone scan by DXA (dual X-ray absorptiometry, which he calls "the gold standard") for everyone in these categories:

• Older than 50

   

• Suffered a bone fracture not caused by trauma

   

• Showing any known risk factor

Risk factors, he says, include alcoholism, low testosterone levels or a history of steroid, chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Small-boned people with slight builds are also more vulnerable to the disease.

Albrecht, who weighs 139 pounds, says he wishes he had known that 12 years ago. "Such information is badly needed because men don't realize what conditions will lead to getting it. I had no breaks, no pain, nothing."

"You may not have pain or any symptoms at all until you break the bone," says Sakhaee. Even men who are younger than 50 and who don't fall into one of the high-risk categories may have it. One-third to a half of all cases are unexplained, he says. And bone loss accelerates as a person ages.

Fortunately, the loss can be slowed. Albrecht's physician put him on a medication that lessens bone loss and prescribed an exercise regimen. "I'm in a couple gym classes and I do water aerobics," he says. "I walk about three miles a day, though I've just about quit jogging for fear of damaging my knees."

He's also joined the osteoporosis support group of Methodist Hospital's Senior Access Program.

For those facing life with osteoporosis, Sakhaee says, a lifestyle change is in order.

"Number one, stop smoking," he says, also suggesting:

• Cut down on alcohol.

   

• Work those bones.

   

• Add dairy products to your diet, yogurt or two to three glasses of milk a day.

   

• For those who have been on steroid treatment for asthma or other conditions, he says, there are now medications such as bisphosphonate that inhibit bone loss.

   

• Get your hormone levels checked. "If you're really having trouble with male hormones, a testosterone replacement may be in order."

Resource: http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |

ONLINE

National Osteoporosis Foundation: http://www.nof.org/

International Osteoporosis Foundation: http://www.osteofound.org/