A practical guide to preventing osteoporosis.

Physicians should advise women reaching menopause about the risk of osteoporosis and what practical steps can be taken to reduce this risk. The average woman at menopause can expect to live to be 80 years old; during these years she will face a 15% risk of hip fracture and a 10% risk of vertebral fracture. These risks are increased in Asians and whites, in women who are short and thin, and in those with poorly developed musculature. General advice regarding the correction of certain unhealthy habits and changes in life-style may enhance skeletal health, but prompt restoration and long-term maintenance of physiologic levels of estrogen remain the only proved effective way of reducing bone loss and the risk of fracture.