That the words “man” and “osteoporosis” are never used together in American medical literature is what struck Professor Robert Adler, chief of the endocrinology department at Richmond Veterans’ Hospital (USA). United). “I think that for the majority of practitioners, osteoporosis is a pathology that only affects women. »
However, for this endocrinologist, the main risk factors for osteoporosis in men are hardly different from those of women: vitamin D and calcium deficiency, smoking, hormonal changes due to age, lack of of physical exercise.
But there are also typically male risk factors: androgen deprivation in men who have had prostate cancer has implications for bone health. And the use of steroids like the glucocorticoids used to treat COPD has the same negative effect on bone density. “Rare are male patients who are offered a bone densitometry test, an examination that measures bone density,” explains Professor Adler.
Femur neck: men are not suspicious enough
To confirm his statements, Professor Adler conducted a study with 115 men hospitalized in a urology department and who were under androgen deprivation. Result: one in three men had osteoporosis without knowing it. “It does not surprise me because of the 2 million fractures due to osteoporosis recorded each year in the United States, approximately 595,000 are recorded in men” insists Professor Adler. “But you should know that the consequences of a fracture of the neck of the femur are more formidable in men than in women: one in three men dies in the year following the fracture. »
Professor Adler therefore advises men to ask their doctor if they should have a bone densitometry. Remember that in France, for the High Authority for Health, this examination is indicated: in the event of a pathology or treatment which could cause osteoporosis (taking corticosteroids for at least 3 consecutive months for example or in the event of hyperthyroidism) and in cases of signs of osteoporosis, regardless of age and gender.
