Osteoporosis in Male Athletes

A 45-year-old male runner came into my office with calf cramping while running. It had been present for 9 months. It got worse the further he ran, to the point of reducing him to a walk. At the time he came in, he couldn’t run more than 1 mile and he had been running 50–60 miles a week. He had seen another physician and been tested for compartment syndrome and other muscle problems. We did an MRI which showed a tibial stress fracture. He had a history of a stress fracture in his foot about 2 years prior, which had healed well.

We checked his bone density (DEXA) scan and found out he had osteoporosis. He could not believe the diagnosis.

“How can I have osteoporosis? I am a man.”

The truth is that many men get osteoporosis. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, the following statistics are true:

· 1 in 4 men over the age of 50 will have a fracture due to osteoporosis

· Men over 50 are more likely to have a fracture than get prostate cancer

· 80,000 men break a hip each year

Men have some risk factors that are similar to women and some that are different. Risk factors for men include

· Positive family history