Risk factors
Osteoporosis → Hip & other fractures
A number of factors can increase the likelihood that you’ll develop osteoporosis, including:
- Age: your risk of osteoporosis increases with age. Particularly ≥ 50 years old.
- Sex: women are more likely to develop osteoporosis than men, though osteoporosis is more prevalent (and severe) in men than commonly understood
- Race/ethnicity: Asians, Hispanics & White non-Hispanics have the highest risk of developing osteoporosis according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Family history of osteoporosis
- Lowered sex hormones: the fall in estrogen levels in women at menopause or from breast cancer treatments, reduced testosterone levels in men from prostate cancer treatments, etc.
- Thyroid problems
- Other glands: overactive parathyroid and adrenal glands
- Cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Celiac disease
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Kidney or liver disease
- Being underweight
- Significant weight loss
- Steroid medications: oral or injected corticosteroid medications: prednisone, cortisone, etc.
- Gastric reflux medications
- Cancer medications
- Seizure medications
- Transplant rejection medications
- Low calcium intake
- Sedentary lifestyle: people who spend a lot of time sitting versus those who are more active
- Excessive alcohol consumption: regular consumption of > 2 alcoholic drinks a day
- Tobacco use
Ask your doctor for more information about osteoporosis risk factors. See also here