Chapter 19 – Idiopathic Osteoporosis in Men

Publisher Summary In a biomedical world that has invested its investigative resources in the gender affected most by osteoporosis, progress has previously been limited to insights gained about women. One has not learned much about how the same disorder may affect men. The mind set of studying osteoporosis in women rather exclusively, because women are most often affected by osteoporosis, has led not only to a paucity of information about osteoporosis in men but also to a tendency to assume that what is the case for women is necessarily also the case for men. In addition, the rather exclusive focus on women has undoubtedly led to an underreporting of the problem in men. Despite the dearth of information about osteoporosis in men, a cohort has emerged in whom no clear-cut etiologies are evident. Osteoporosis in such men is termed "idiopathic."