POST-MENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS: Has it been medicalized?

Millions of women will be prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and be told that it will prevent osteoporosis occuring, despite the fact that there is doubt about its long term usefulness. Preventive measures outlined in this article are much more preferable, but need to be directed towards the whole population, not just menopausal women. The prevention of osteoporosis is an important public health issue which needs to be addressed now, not in the next century. This article explores the issues that surround the medicalisation of post-menopausal osteoporosis.