[Epidemiology of osteoporosis and fracture].

Prevalence of osteoporosis is increasing with age. And it reached about 50% for women in their late seventies and about 20% for men of the same age. In Japan, osteoporosis population is estimated at over ten million people. Spine fracture is very common in the elderly, with a lifetime risk of 37% for Japanese women aged 50. Incidence of spine fracture increased at relatively early stages of old age. Hip fracture rapidly increases among those at ages over 70, with a lifetime risk of about 14% for women aged 50 and 10-year fracture probability of 3% and 10% for women aged 70 and those aged 80, respectively.