Health News, Oct, 2006

Men with low levels of the hormone estrogen may be more likely to sustain a hip fracture, according to a study in The American Journal of Medicine.

What's more, men with both low estrogen and low testosterone levels have the greatest risk for hip fracture, the study found.

Each year, 80,000 men sustain a hip fracture and one-third of these men will die within a year, according to statistics from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease in Bethesda, MD.

Though many people associate testosterone with men and estrogen with women, men possess both hormones. Estrogen levels are known to have an effect on bone mineral density and testosterone, too, is thought to have a positive effect on bone.

In the study, researchers examined 793 men with no record of prior hip fracture who had their estrogen and testosterone levels measured between 1981 and 1983. They followed the men until 1999.

The men were categorized as having low, midrange or high levels of each hormone.
Men with low estrogen levels had 3.1 times the risk of hip fracture compared to men with high estrogen levels. Men who only had low testosterone levels did not have an increased risk for hip fracture, but men with both low estrogen and low testosterone levels had 6.5 times the risk of hip fracture compared to the men who had both estrogen and testosterone levels in the high range or midrange.