Epidemiology, biochemistry and some results with treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis

The present chapter deals with postmenopausal osteoporosis. This is an important disease because it affects millions of people throughout the world. The most serious of the osteoporotic fractures, the hip fractures, needs hospitalization, causes a high degree of mortality, and results often in dependent people. Osteoporosis is thus a significant socioeconomic burden. At the menopause bone turnover increases and bone loss accelerates. Postmenopausal bone loss and osteoporosis may be prevented by oestrogen replacement therapy, but convincing therapy for established osteoporosis does not yet exist. Anabolic steroid therapy can, however, increase the bone mineral content a few percentages a year in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.