A new link to a back pain Web site and lack of osteoporosis treatment in older men
The
spine-health.com
Web site. This
site includes
hundreds of articles about back pain, neck pain and treatment
options, including conventional and alternative treatment techniques,
examination, diagnosis and other related topics. Importantly,
the site is non-commercial (not owned or
influenced
by anyone trying to sell products or services), and it is unique
in that
all of the articles are peer reviewed by members of the site's
Medical
Advisory Board (similar to a medical journal review process).
The
site's
animations and interactive features are also especially popular with
patients.
I hope men will find the information here helpful. I've
included it as a link from the Osteoporosis
Links page
on this site.
The near absence of osteoporosis treatment in older men with fractures, Osteoporos Int. 2005 Jun 1;[Epub ahead of print], Feldstein AC and others, PMID: 15928798. A fracture in an older individual should always bring suspicion of osteoporosis, especially if the fracture occurs due to minimal trauma. This retrospective cohort study involved 1,171 men aged 65 or older who had a new fracture associated with osteoporosis between 1 January 1998 and 30 June 2001. The main outcome measure was pharmacologic treatment for osteoporosis in the six months after the fracture. Only 7/1% of the study population and 16% of those with a hip or vertebral fracture received a medication for osteoporosis following the fracture. Bone mineral density measurement only occurred in 13 (1.1%) of individuals. The authors conclude: "Our findings suggest that there is under-ascertainment and under-treatment of osteoporosis and modifiable secondary causes in older men with fractures." Editor's comments. I would say that the author's conclusion are quite an understatement. To think that only 1.1% of older men with fractures received a bone density measurement is simply beyond belief. I will repeat what I've said on this Web site many times: It behooves men to become knowledgeable about their own medical problems. You simply can't expect ideal medical care from your provider, so you must know what that care involves and demand that you get it. If you have a low-trauma fracture after age 65, you must assume you have osteoporosis until proven otherwise. Currently the only accepted osteoporosis diagnosis method is bone density testing using approved equipment such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). One can only hope that diagnosis and treatment methods have improved since this study was done in 2001.