Osteoporosis is by far the most important of these conditions and affects between five and ten per cent of the population of Western countries. It is between five and eight times as common in women as it is in men, and represents a major public health problem. An estimated two hundred and fifty thousand hip fractures and five hundred thousand vertebral fractures in the USA each year are attributed to osteoporosis. Hip fracture is the most serious complications since it is a major cause of morbidity and often mortality in the elderly.
