Guideline issued on managing osteoporosis in men
The Endocrine Society last week issued a clinical practice guideline on managing osteoporosis in men.
The Endocrine Society last week issued a clinical practice guideline on managing osteoporosis in men.
A task force of six experts and a methodologist analyzed systematic evidence reviews to reach consensus on its recommendations, which were reviewed in draft form by the Endocrine Society's clinical guidelines subcommittee and clinical affairs core committee, as well as representatives from related professional societies and Endocrine Society members. The Endocrine Society Council approved the final document.
The guideline's recommendations include the following:
- Higher-risk men (those 70 years of age or older and those 50 to 69 years of age with such risk factors as low body weight, previous fractures during adulthood, and smoking) should be tested with central dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).
- Contributing causes of osteoporosis should be detected via laboratory testing.
- Clinicians should encourage adequate calcium and vitamin D intake, as well as weight-bearing exercise.
- Patients should avoid smoking and excessive alcohol use.
- Men 50 years of age and older who have had spine or hip fractures, men with T-scores of −2.5 or lower, and men at high fracture risk because of low bone mineral density and/or clinical risk factors should receive pharmacologic treatment.
- Serial DEXA should be used to monitor treatment.
The detailed full text of the guideline, which was published in the June Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, is available free of charge online.