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Osteoporosis Health Centre
Prevention |
Why do more women
than men get osteoporosis?
Women are twice as likely as men
to develop osteoporosis. Here's why.
Peak bone mass occurs when
our bones are at their strongest. Women of all races reach their peak
bone mass between the ages of 20 and 24. Men keep building bone until
about age 30.
Men are larger than women
on average, and have a higher peak bone density.
Around age 40, both men and
women begin to lose some of the bone in their skeletons. But in the next
10 years, women lose more bone leading up to menopause, because of changes
in their estrogen
levels. The hormone estrogen plays a key role in bone resorption. After
menopause (around age 51), women start to lose bone at an increased rate.
A woman can lose 2 to 5 percent of her bone density each year during the
5 to 10 years of and following menopause.
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