Osteoporosis and heredity.

A retrospective epidemiological study was performed to determine whether postmenopausal osteoporosis is a hereditary condition. Frequency of fractures was calculated in women whose mothers had suffered vertebral fractures after a low-energy trauma three decades earlier. The frequency of fractures was compared to the frequency in an age-matched control group. The daughters of the osteoporotic women were not more prone to sustain fractures than the controls.