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We are all different: insights from osteoporosis research in Asia
Author(s) -
YEAP Swan Sim
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/j.1756-185x.2008.00404.x
Subject(s) - osteoporosis , medicine , homogeneous , disease , bone mineral , ethnic group , demography , gerontology , anthropology , physics , sociology , thermodynamics
Osteoporosis only became a ‘disease’ entity in the 20th century. After the initial observations and definitions of osteoporosis based on Caucasian populations, systematic research in Asian populations started in the 1980s. Significant variations between different ethnic groups with respect to the rate of osteoporotic fractures, bone mineral density and disease risk factors emerged from the data; this article highlights some of the earlier important findings and the dissimilarities. Osteoporosis is therefore not a homogeneous disease across the world.