Osteoporosis in men: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment possibilities.

The neglect of the problem of fractures in men may be the result of the focus on the enormity of the problem in women, attention to vertebral fractures and the role of menopause in the pathogenesis of fractures and cardiovascular disease, and the role of hormone replacement therapy in the prevention of fractures and cardiovascular disease. The use of epidemiology as a means of understanding the disease in individuals has confirmed that fractures are a common and serious consequence of osteoporosis in women--and in men.