Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a major public health concern with millions of Americans being affected. This painful and oftentimes crippling disease is multifactorial in nature. Therefore, the development of osteoporosis is related to more issues than a person’s intake of calcium. As a result, osteoporosis is not age or gender dependent. Risk factors for osteoporosis include proper nutrition including calcium intake, heredity, age, gender, physical inactivity, smoking, excessive alcohol use, and the use of several medications. With such a variety of risk factors, everyone should assume risk for disease development and thus take steps for the prevention of this bone fragility disease. © 2004 Californian Journal of Health Promotion. All rights reserved.