Office management of osteoporosis: a guide for the primary care provider.

Osteoporosis is greatly increasing in prevalence as the population ages. Postmenopausal women are at particularly high risk. I have reviewed the risk factors for osteoporosis, the office evaluation, laboratory and radiologic testing, and available treatment of osteoporosis. Adequate calcium and vitamin D intake is important in prevention and treatment. Estrogen replacement is the treatment of choice for the menopausal women who has or is at risk for osteoporosis, but several alternatives are available. These drugs prevent bone loss but cannot restore lost bone to any significant degree. Until effective means of restoring normal bone are discovered, increasing peak bone mass in adolescents and young women with the hope of preventing osteoporosis may be the most important intervention.