ABSTRACT
Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease in the United States, with recent prevalence estimates of approximately 10% of the national population1. About 17-20% of older non-Hispanic white women in the United States have osteoporosis1. Of the men older than 50 years of age, 5% have osteoporosis2. Osteoporosis accounts for about 1.5 million fractures annually, including 700 000 vertebral fractures, 250 000 distal forearm fractures, 300 000 hip fractures, and 300 000 fractures at other sites3. The lifetime risk for fractures of spine, hip, and distal radius is 40% for white women after the age of 503.
