Q: Is osteoporosis a natural process after menopause?

Dr. Brown’s bestselling book, Better Bones, Better Body, informed by a comparative, cross-cultural perspective, is dedicated to this topic.  When she wrote this book, Dr. Brown looked around the world at different cultures to try to understand bone health in women as they aged. In short, she found that osteoporosis is not a natural process. Osteoporosis after menopause, which leads to the development of bones that are so fragile that they can break upon normal, everyday activities, does not happen all around the world. There is a great variation of fracture rates among people of different ages, caused mostly by different lifestyle, behavioral, and nutritional patterns. Also to be noted is that there are at least a couple different definitions of osteoporosis circulating. The most common is the measure of bone density from a bone density test. But Dr. Brown believes that the most important definition of osteoporosis is a needless, low-trauma fracture. Bone density tests are flawed. If you would like to learn more about why bone density tests are not a great predictor of osteoporosis, read our article, Bone Density Tests Aren’t Enough. Why a Fracture Risk Assessment Is Essential.

Listen to Dr. Brown discuss this topic and many more below. If you are looking for more information, be sure to search our Better Bones blog.